Berries of Holly
by entscha
Summary: What if Harry had been a girl? Holly just turned 15. Voldemort had come back at the end of her last school year and her life was about to change dramatically. Not only because of the beginning rise of the dark lord, but because she finds herself seeking a place to feel safe... like someone's loving arms... Rated M for later content, as well as language.
1. A Letter from Sirius

**Hello readers, welcome to my story! :)**

After thinking about it for quite a long time now, I've finally decided to put my version of Harry being a girl online.  
I hope some of you will like it and I would loooove to hear your opinions and ideas about it in the comments!

This story is rated M for later chapters... First, the story line will take some time to develop!

If ever there are some kind of spelling errors or typos I'm sorry - English actually is my second language, but I prefer it to my first.  
So, if you do find something just tell me, I will do my best to correct mistakes as quickly as possible!

Also, this will change quite a bit from the original story, as Holly will be pretty different than Harry... And there will be flashbacks to content happening before Chapter 1, f.e. Holly being a child, living with the Dursleys or her early adventures with Ron and Hermione.

Lastly, I (unfurtunately) don't own any of the Harry Potter specific content, that all belongs to the great J.K. Rowling!

Enjoy! :)

* * *

 **Chapter 1:** **A Letter from Sirius**

Holly sat by the window, a quill twirling between her fingers, her dark eyebrows frowning in concentration above her sparkling green eyes, unsure about how to respond to her godfathers most recent letter. It was growing darker outside with every minute that passed. Today had been her fifteenth birthday and she'd received several birthday cards and presents from her friends Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Hagrid and of course the Weasleys and Sirius. But the most exciting thing had been something her godfather had written in his letter:

 _My most darling goddaughter,_

 _First of all, a very happy birthday to you! I hope you like your present and your aunt and uncle aren't ruining your birthday as usual. We will be celebrating soon and not only your birthday, but something even bigger!_

 _Dumbledore visited me yesterday at headquarters and he finally managed to convince the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to take over my case and there will be a trial held over my being innocent next week on Tuesday the 8_ _th_ _.  
So, if everything goes well (as I sincerely expect and hope it will) I will be a free man again in merely a couple of days and I want you to be here with me to celebrate and stay… If you want to, for good.  
You might remember, I asked you to live with me right after the incident by the whopping willow, but when Peter escaped, I had no choice but flee (thanks for the help again, kiddo).  
If you would rather stay under the blood protection your aunt's home provides, I would understand, but Dumbledore said, he would install several wards and protective spells himself, if you would prefer living with me.  
It is your decision, so no pressure!_

 _There is one other thing: there will be several people asked for questioning at my trial, including Remus, your friends Ron and Hermione and of course you. And, under Dumbledore's orders, the questionings will be held with the help of Veritaserum. It was the only way the Magical Law Enforcement would agree to even hold a trial for me. I hope you don't mind being forced to tell the truth._

 _How are you apart from everything else? Still having trouble sleeping? I know you've had a hard time since… well, I guess you know what I mean.  
_ _Holly, I can only repeat myself again: none of what happened on that graveyard is or was your fault! Stop blaming yourself, there is nothing you could have done differently, no adult could have coped better with that situation. I hope you will start feeling better once you are here, with me and your friends. You are not alone in this! Whatever you need me to do, in order to feel better, just tell me!_

 _Anyway, happy birthday once more, can't wait to see you in just a few days – Dumbledore will send you all the other details about when you will be collected to come and spent the rest of the holidays with me and the Weasleys at the headquarters!_

 _Sirius_

So, she would be "collected" in just a few days to spend the rest of the summer with Sirius and her friends.  
Better even, her godfather would be spoken innocent, with _her_ help.  
And best of all, when he was a free man again, she would be living with him, her parent's best friend, the closest thing she had to a family, a father, and would finally, after all those years, be rid of the Dursleys.

She couldn't believe her luck. In just over a week, her life would forever be changed, and this one time actually for the better!

After she had scribbled down her answer for Sirius (thanks for the present, can't wait to celebrate your being free next week, would love to live with you) she sat quietly for a moment, just thinking about the last few years and how she never would have to come back to this place. Her _Home_.  
Of course, it had never felt like that, probably because she had never been welcome in this house. She had always been treated badly, like an unwanted animal, not even her aunt would care for her even though Holly had been her own sister's daughter, her niece. Before she had gotten the acceptance letter to Hogwarts, she hadn't even known a thing about her parents, her past, or the things she could do, was born to do.  
Heck, they never even called her by her name, she had always been known as "the girl" or "the freak" or simply "hey, you" in this house. Now she was going to leave it all behind. The hatred in uncle Vernon's face, the disgust in aunt Petunia's and most importantly the despise in her cousin Debbie's. That girl had been the worst of all, especially when they still were in the same primary school, back in the days before Hogwarts.  
Hogwarts had become her actual home, the only one she ever had, but it had never been easy for her, not even there. Holly remembered her four years at Hogwarts, every one worse, more dangerous than the year before. At least she'd never been alone, her best friends Ron and Hermione always by her side, fighting off Voldemort more than once, saving Ron's sister Ginny and of course just a year ago her godfather Sirius, who'd been imprisoned for twelve years, wrongly convicted of murder. By far the worst had been the last year, her fourth, especially the third task of the Triwizard tournament. Holly forced herself to think of something else, _anything_ else, really. She was fed up with her brain showing her all those images of that night when she was asleep. She would not think about it anymore than she had to, she just couldn't.

After everything she had to go through, finally now… she was going to get a real home, a real family. With Sirius. She couldn't believe it.

Holly would have to tell her aunt and uncle about her moving out, but she was afraid something would happen, and everything would turn out to have just been a dream. Or worse, Sirius would, against all odds, not be found innocent and she would have to come back to this forsaken place after all. She couldn't stand the thought of having to come back, after having the place left behind for good, after telling the Dursleys good bye, only to crawl back to their door, having to beg them to take her back.  
So, while preparing everything for the night, she decided to wait. Sirius said, Dumbledore was going to send her all the details about her leaving, and as long as she did not have them, she wasn't going to tell the Dursleys a thing about anything.


	2. Clearing out One's Life

**Chapter 2** **Clearing out One's life**

After a night filled with screams, silvery death eater masks, green light, the stinking smell coming from that threatening cauldron, the feeling of Voldemort's finger pressed against her scar and Cedric's face, dead eyes staring into the sky at that horrible graveyard, (a night just like any other, really) Holly was awakened by a rustling noise outside her window. The image of the Weasley's flying car popping up in her head first, but when she opened her eyes, she saw her owl, Hedwig, sitting just outside her window, behind her the uprising sun against rose coloured clouds, a letter tied to her claw.

Holly jumped out of bed, nearly falling back into it, at the touch of the cold wooden floor against her bare feet. On tiptoes she hurried to the window, letting the snowy white bird in. "G'morning, lovely, got a letter for me?" Hedwig landed swiftly on her table, stretching out her claw, so that Holly could take the letter. When she had succeeded, she took several owl treats and put them in the big owl cage: "Thanks Hedwig, for delivering this. You must be tired." Hedwig blinked affirmative while pushing its head against Holly's caressing fingers, then flew over into her cage, were she ate some of the treats and quickly fell asleep.

Holly watched her beloved owl come to a rest and finally took a look at the letter she had received. It was yellowish parchment, her name written in green ink. Dumbledore!  
Eagerly she opened the letter, nearly ripping it in her trembling hands. The message was short, merely a notice:

 _Dear Holly,_

 _Tonks will come and get you on August 1_ _st_ _at 12pm. You will probably not come back to Privet Drive, be prepared._

 _-A. P. W. B. D._

Holly turned the parchment in her hands, expecting some more information on the backside, but it was just blank.

That was all? Holly sat down by the table, reading the short note again. August 1st, that was today. But who the heck was this Tonks supposed to be? Holly had never even heard that name before. Maybe they were some kind of security? Holly tried to remember everything she ever heard or learned about that secret organisation called The Order of the Phoenix. It wasn't much, really, she just knew it was founded by Dumbledore and they fought against Voldemort and his followers the last time he had been striving for power, nearly 14 years ago. And they had that very well hidden headquarter, where Sirius lived at the moment and all the members of the Order met and worked together under Dumbledore's guidance.

Anyway, today was the day. She was leaving this dreadful place she'd been forced to call "home" for so many years behind. 12pm. That meant she had only a couple of hours left to pack all her stuff, that lay scattered all over the small space that was her room. Had been her room. And to inform her aunt and uncle about everything.

The next two hours were spent trying to get everything she needed or wanted to keep, even though it wouldn't be needed anymore, sorted on top of her bed. Everything she wouldn't take with her, she stuffed into a big black trash bag, she found downstairs in Petunias realm, the kitchen. Finally, she stood back, taking in everything. Her room had never been tidier. Exhausted, she slid down the wall until she sat on the cool wooden floor, but now she was glad about the chill, since she was quite heated up from all the sorting and tidying she'd done. After taking several calming breaths, she decided to take one last shower in this house and to brush her teeth, but before, she brought out the black trash bag and dumped it into the big dustbin that stood there.

After finishing her shower, she chose a white top and dark shorts from the few muggle clothes that actually fit her (Hermione and Ginny had bought them for her last year) and started to pack everything she'd collected on the bed into her school trunk. Without success. There was no way of fitting all her belongings into that (though not small) trunk, that clearly was only supposed to hold her school stuff, not everything she owned and held dear. She sighed and gave up. Whoever this Tonks was, they would need to help her.

Whilst coming to that conclusion, Holly locked her sleeping owls cage and lay her wand on top of her otherwise bare nightstand. Downstairs aunt Petunia was quite audibly rummaging in the kitchen now, apparently starting with the day and preparing breakfast. A quick glance at the clock at her wrist told Holly, that it was nearly 9 o'clock. That would have been quite late for the Dursleys on a normal Tuesday morning to get up, but uncle Vernon's firm had their annual plant shutdown this week, and since school holidays had started as well, and aunt Petunia didn't actually work, everybody was home and could sleep in.

At the sound of her aunt working in the kitchen, Holly's stomach finally woke and made a quite noticeable growl, demanding her to eat. Since she had to talk to her aunt anyway, Holly thought it was about time to do both, combined. Slowly she walked down the stairs into the dining room where the breakfast table stood still deserted. She could hear her uncle upstairs, on his way to the bathroom and could even make out her stupid cousin Debbie, who was just above the dining room, still in her room, getting ready for the day. That always involved a lot of time and make-up, as if all that junk could somehow make her look pretty. Holly never understood why so many girls her age did this to their faces every day, especially since most of them, like Debbie, looked worse after. The layers Debbie put on her face only made her look like Miss Piggy from The Muppet Show.

Holly went into the kitchen then, greeting her aunt who, as usual, completely ignored her niece, and began to lay the table, helping Petunia as good as she could. Holly often asked herself, if her aunt had always been this way: discontented, thin lipped, passive aggressive. She would have felt sorry for her, had she not been such a mean bitch to Holly. Actually, she felt sorry for her anyway. Holly would never want to spend her life in such a way.

When everything was ready and uncle Vernon impatiently waited on his chair, her aunt and Holly sat down in their usual places and started breakfast. Nobody ever waited for Debbie, she always took too long smudging her face with all that expensive stuff.  
Halfway through the meal, when uncle Vernon lay down his newspaper, Holly eventually took the chance and spoke:

"Uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia, in fact, I have some really important news." She waited for them to react in any way, but nothing came. The two just shared a quick glace with each other, Vernon returned to his toast and Petunia kept stirring her cup of tea. Since nothing whatsoever came, she continued:

"It is good news, for you and for once also for me. You remember my godfather? The one who was in prison wrongly convicted for a crime he didn't commit? There will actually be a trial next week, and when he is spoken innocent, which he will, he offered me to live with him. So, I guess you're finally rid of me." At her last words, Holly looked down to her plate, still waiting for any reaction.

After some moments, which felt more like minutes, her uncle spoke:

"How can you be sure this… man will not be found guilty?"

"Because several people will be questioned with a special sort of drink, you see, a potion, that makes you only speak the truth, even if you don't want to. No one will be able to lie, to say something about him, that's untrue. At the end, truth will come out, he will be free again."

She looked directly into her uncle's tiny piggy eyes, as he stared at her, as usual unable to speak at the mention of magic stuff, like this potion.

"There is more. I will be collected today and brought to him and my friends to stay for the rest of the summer. So, this is likely my last meal with you. I will leave at midday."

Her aunt and uncle still were perplexed. They'd stopped moving at the mention of magic and hadn't started yet. At that very moment, Debbie decided to make her appearance. She sat down, grabbing some toast and jam and asked bluntly:

"Why's everybody so weird? What's up with you, fell into a trance or something?" Debbie snipped her fingers in front of her mother's face.

At the sound of her daughter's voice, aunt Petunia slowly came back to life again. Absentmindedly she shook her head.

"No, my dear, _she_ just told us that she will leave at midday to go to her godfather. She won't come back."

Debbie scowled: "What's that supposed to mean?" She stared in Holly's direction, so Holly explained everything again, quite disturbed at the oddness of the talk. She had thought they would break out in celebration as soon as she'd told them, but apparently that wasn't the case. After Holly had finished, Debbie joined her parents' silence. That was too much for Holly, she gulped down her last sip of orange juice and headed towards the stairs, up to her room, where she intended to stay until that Tonks showed up.


	3. Meeting Nymphadora Tonks

**Chapter 3:** **Meeting Nymphadora Tonks**

Eventually, the doorbell rang. Holly jumped up from her nap on the floor (since her bed was still laden with all her belongings) and ran down the stairs to the front door. Outside stood a young witch with bright pink hair and a heart shaped face.  
Holly had never seen an adult witch this young, only pupils in Hogwarts and elderly teachers. Plus, she was quite beautiful too, in her own way. When Holly didn't say anything, the witch smiled:

"Wotcha, you must be Holly? I'm Nymphadora Tonks, but you better just call me Tonks."

Holly just found her voice again and greeted the witch, showing her in. Tonks looked quickly around the hallway, obviously curious and impressed.  
Surely, she hadn't been to many muggle households.

"Are you done packing, ready to go?", she finally asked Holly.

"Actually, since I will have to pack everything that belongs to me, I couldn't fit everything in my school trunk…", Holly answered, a little embarrassed, but Tonks just chuckled.

"I think I can help you with that, just show me where your stuff is."

Holly and Tonks went up to her room and Tonks promptly started to work her magic.

"I will put an Undetectable Extension Charm to your trunk, I think everything will fit inside quite nicely afterwards."

Tonks whirled her wand above Holly's trunk and knit her brows in concentration. From the outside, her trunk still looked the same, but it must have worked, something must have changed, Holly could sense the magic in the air.

Tonks grinned at her disarmingly and opened her trunk. The inside was huge. She could have fit several owl cages inside, damn, she could quite comfortably sleep in that thing now. Holly was too stunned to speak, she just shook her head in disbelief and watched, as Tonks magically lifted all her belongings up from the bed and inside the trunk.

"I'm not the best at this, sorry", she said, while Holly's stuff one after the other disappeared. "I'm much better at Transfiguration, but Charms… They never were my signboard. Household charms are the worst. My mother excels at them, she can even get clothes to fold themselves. But hey, at least everything will be inside the trunk, even if it's all tangled and chaotic!", Tonks laughed.  
Holly didn't care if everything was tangled, she was just glad Tonks helped her.

After just a few last flicks with her wand, Tonks was done: "Ready to go now?", she asked still a smile on her lips.

"Ready as I can be", Holly answered, smiling herself. She was actually leaving this place!

Tonks lifted the trunk magically into the air and carefully guided it down the stairs. Holly took Hedwig's cage and her wand and without a last glace she left her room, never to come back again.

Tonks waited at the door for her, surprisingly accompanied by Holly's cousin. Sure, Debbie stood some feet away, always so frightened at the sight of everything magic. She probably couldn't help it, being her parent's daughter after all.

Just when Holly came to the door, uncle Vernon came slowly from the living room up to her and stretched out his hand:

"Well, I guess this is good bye then."

Holly stared at his fleshy pink fingers for a moment, then took it anyway. She would not be the one being unfriendly, even after everything this fat sack had said or done to her over the years.

"Yeah, guess so."

As soon as their hands parted, Vernon went back to his seat in the living room, where he quite audibly watched some kind of sports game.

Debbie also came forward and offered her hand, nails painted all pink and glittery.

"Still can't believe you're actually leaving", Debbie's voice was really quiet, not loud and attention seeking as it normally would be. Holly couldn't say a word, just nodded slightly. She did not understand what's gotten into her cousin. And even uncle Vernon! Everything about it was so… wrong!

Before Holly turned to leave, she saw aunt Petunia standing in the kitchen door, watching her. Holly turned to her, almost expecting her aunt to come and shake hands too, but she didn't. Petunia just stood there, some kind of gardening tool in her gloved hands, not moving or saying anything. Just watching. There was an odd sensation in the corridor, Holly could feel it. Petunia's mouth twitched, as if she wanted to say something, she looked over at Holly, for a moment their eyes met. Then, Petunia shook her head once and without a word, went back out of sight.

Holly felt the weirdness of the moment crawl down her spine, shuddered and simply went out the frontdoor.

Before it shut, Holly caught a soft "Bye, Holly", spoken by her cousin.

Never before, had Debbie called her by her first name.

Outside, Tonks had already sent of Holly's trunk to that secret place called the headquarters. The young witch took Holly by her elbow and lead her down the street along ever the same houses.

"That was awkward, wasn't it?", Tonks asked, her head pointing back to Number 4.

Holly nodded, still confused about everything that just happened. Why hadn't Petunia said anything? That'd been the weirdest thing of all. Trying to take her mind elsewhere, Tonks started talking:

"Anyway, let's get back to business! You see, since it's broad daylight, there aren't many means of travel we can use. We can't just take a broom and fly away, or we would be seen. Your aunt and uncle don't own the right fireplace I've been told" (Holly had to smile at the memory of the Weasleys nearly destroying the Dursley's living room last year) "So, floo powder wasn't really an option either. There is really only one thing for us left and it won't be pleasant for you, I'm afraid."

With those words, they had arrived at the big corn field just a few streets away. Tonks abruptly came to a halt, Holly nearly fell over, grasping Tonks' arm, trying to stay on her feet. She hadn't expected them to stop moving at that moment, she'd been too focused on the words "won't be pleasant for you".

"Oops, sorry, didn't want to run you over, Tonks", Holly felt her cheeks blush a little, "but, um, what do you mean, what exactly won't be pleasant?"

Tonks just smiled suspiciously, took Holly's hand and led her inside the high growing corn. Just a few feet in, Tonks turned around again, her smile now even more diabolical.

"Don't be afraid, it won't hurt, and it will be over real' quick. Step one: take one deep breath and hold it, now!"

Tonks waited for Holly to do as she was told, so Holly took a deep breath, trying to hold it. She had no idea, what she should be expecting. Was this some kind of prank? For what sort of transportation would she need to hold her breath?

Before she could ask Tonks any of her questions, the witch grabbed her hand tightly in hers and quickly spun around in place. Suddenly, everything around her went black. She felt pressure very hard all around her, against her. She couldn't breathe, her body got squished, compressed from all sides. Her eyeballs were being forced to the backside of her head, her ear drums hurting from all the black pressure around her and then-  
Her lung filled with air again, the darkness lifted around her, her feet hit firm ground, she felt herself nearly collapsing, sitting down on the ground before that would actually happen, sticking her head between her knees. Tonks must have landed beside her, because Holly could hear her giggly voice:

"Step 2: try not to throw up or faint."

For Tonks it might be funny, but it took all Holly's strength to not do either. After taking some deep breaths, she started to feel better.  
Holly lifted her head up to face Tonks:

"Have we -? Did we just -?", her voice was still trembling, but her nausea was finally gone, as well as the dizziness she had felt right after.

Tonks nodded knowingly: "Yeah, we just apparated. And for your first time, you did really well. I remember mine, I threw up all over. But then again, I also got splinched that time, so it might have been because of that too." Tonks shrugged one shoulder. Holly didn't even want to know what "splinched" meant, it sounded dreadful.

"Anyway, look where we are! Come, let me help you get off the ground", Tonks held out her hand, helping Holly back up to her feet.

Holly looked around. They'd traveled to a square place, surrounded by old, big identical city houses. Making sure nobody would see them, Tonks had apparated them right behind some big dustbins next to a house with a small number 13 written next to the wooden front door.  
Tonks reached inside her bag and took out a tiny piece of paper, which she handed Holly.

Holly eyed the piece suspiciously. It was written in a neat, slanted handwriting, and even though this time it wasn't written in green ink, she instantly recognized it as Dumbledore's:

 _The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at Grimmauldplace, 12._

Holly couldn't think of any reason why she had to read this sentence, why Tonks hadn't just told her in person, but when she looked up from the writing, right in front of her, something started to happen. Holly felt the ground beneath her trembling, like an earthquake, the airs filled with the sound of magic. Where the two houses of number 11 and number 13 met, suddenly, under great noise, slowly grew a new house, pushing the other two next to it away. After a couple of seconds, everything came to a halt again, and there it was, right in front of Holly a house had materialized, identical to the others on that square, but with the number 12 next to its door.  
Holly felt her mouth drop open, couldn't believe what had just happened.

Tonks hurried up the stairs to the door: "Come on, Holly, let's get inside!"

* * *

Hey there, thanks for reading! :)  
Holly finally left the Dursleys behind (don't worry, we'll see some more of them anyhow, especially in some flashbacks coming up further into the story).  
What do you think, will Sirius be discharged at the trial that's coming up? Will Holly be able to leave her past truly behind?  
Please leave a comment with some feedback about what you are thinking so far, I appreciate every opinion, so don't withhold any _constructive_ criticism - but please, no bashing. If you happen to not like the story at all, that's fine with me, I won't force you into reading it, you know ;)  
Stay tuned,  
-entscha


	4. The House of Black

**Chapter 4:** **The House of Black**

Following Tonks through the front door, Holly found herself in a long, yet narrow hallway, everything was quite dark, as it was only lit by some candles. She'd expected the headquarters of the Order to be somewhat…nicer. This hallway alone screamed dark magic at her. It probably belonged to an old wizarding family, one who was really into all that pureblood-shit like the Malfoys or most of the other Slytherin kids.  
Finally, they reached a staircase. Holly could make out voices, talking, discussing things, seemingly coming from behind a closed door just opposite the stairs. Must be some kind of meeting, she guessed, concerning the Order.  
Tonks knocked at the door, and just seconds later it opened, revealing a smiling Molly Weasley. Neatly, she closed the door behind her. When her warm, motherly eyes fell onto Holly, she pulled her swiftly into a very welcome hug.

"Holly, dear, so glad you've arrived at last, safe and sound! Let me look at you, I think you've grown again, since I last saw you!"

With Mrs. Weasley Holly couldn't help but feel safe, welcome, cared for. Even though Molly Weasley had seven children to care about, she always had more love to give, even for Holly. She couldn't imagine anyone being as good a mother as the red-headed woman in front of her. A smile began to curl Holly's lips, she couldn't resist it.

"Hullo, Mrs. Weasley, good to see you too! Where is everyone, Ron, Hermione?"

Mrs. Weasley released her from the tight embrace and pointed to the stairs.

"The children are upstairs in their rooms until we're done with our meeting in the dining room, why don't you head up and join them? You will be sharing a room with Hermione and Ginny as long as we're staying here, it's on the third floor the last door on the right. I will call for you, as soon as it's suitable for you to join us inside for dinner, dear!"

With those words, Mrs. Weasley turned around, making her way back to the meeting. Tonks had stood silently next to them while they spoke and flashed Holly a last smile, before following Mrs. Weasley through the door, Holly seemingly wasn't allowed pass yet.  
Left alone at the staircase, Holly shrugged her shoulders and began ascending the stairs, up to the third floor. There was no light in the long corridor that opened up in front of her, once she reached the right floor, but she could easily make out the right door, since she could instantly hear Ginny's giggles from behind it.  
Without bothering to knock, Holly pulled the door and it swung open. Before she could even see even a tiny bit of the room, her sight was blocked by wild, bushy brown hair as she was being pulled into a hug by none other than Hermione.

"You're here! Finally!"

Ginny quickly joined them, and Holly felt the youngest Weasley's arms locked around her as well, a flowery smell tingling her nose.

"Hey, you two, glad to see you as well", Holly finally managed to say, as the arms around her began to soften their grip a little.

The girls took Holly by her hands and led her over to one of the two king size beds standing in the room. Holly at last got a chance to take in her surroundings. She found herself in a large room, the high walls covered with green tapestry, floor and furniture all made from the same rich, dark brown wood, something her aunt Petunia would call mahogany, or something like that. All those chests of drawers, wardrobes and the headboards of their beds were adorned with beautiful carvings. Everything in this room must have been incredibly expensive, so her theory from earlier, that the house must have belonged to one of the old pureblood families proved itself truer by the minute.

"I know, it's a lot to take in at first", Ginny stated knowingly.

"Whose property is this house? Must be some rich pureblood by the looks of it all", Holly answered, still in awe with everything she saw.

"Right you are, goddaughter. It's mine", a voice spoke softly behind her. Holly whirled around and saw Sirius Black standing in the open door, leaning against the frame in that casual way of his.

"Sirius!", Holly screeched and ran over at him, into his arms, ultimately at home.

Dinner was perfect, being cooked by Mrs. Weasley after all. Holly found herself surrounded by all the people dear to her, to her left sat Ron, whom she'd probably missed the most and to her right sat Sirius, joking with glistening eyes, apparently just as happy as her about all the people in _his_ house. Holly still couldn't believe that Sirius had grown up at this place, it seemed to be so very dark even if very beautiful.  
Gathered all around the long (again mahogany) dining table were six of the Weasleys (Arthur, Molly, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny), Hermione, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin and several people she didn't yet know, but since all of them were part of the Order, Holly couldn't help but like them already.

After everybody was stuffed with Molly Weasley's exquisite food, the helped cleaning up everything and sat down again, talking about this and that. After some time, Holly couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore and asked Sirius about everything going on at the moment. She still was a bit disappointed about being too young to actually join the Order's meetings and fighting, but nevertheless wanted to know as much as possible about the ongoings. When Sirius started to explain everything, Holly sensed that all the small conversations that had been going on had stopped, all the attention had focused on Sirius' talking:

"You see, at the moment Voldemort is still kind of staying in the dark, he hasn't officially come back again. He's probably angry about his ruined rising at that cemetery. We guess, he wanted to finish you off and immediately claim the power, since your death would have proved him to be invincible after all. But thanks to you, he didn't succeed and know he and his followers are not officially starting a war, even though of course it has started anyway."

Holly wondered, what the Order did, if they weren't actually fighting Voldemort or death eaters at last. This time, Alastor Moody joined their talk and continued instead of Sirius:

"Well, You-Know-Who is looking for something. He seeks information about something, that might help his case, bring him victory after all. And we are doing everything to keep him from gaining that information. Isn't as easy as it sounds, Potter."

Holly's brow furrowed, she still could not comprehend the meaning of any of this. What information might bring victory to Voldemort? Weren't his death eaters and all the dark magic enough to achieve his goal? Before Holly could ask further questions, Mrs. Weasley interrupted their talking, claiming there'd been enough information for now (by the look in her eyes she likely meant generally enough for the "children") and sent everyone upstairs to bed. Holly caught Sirius' eye while leaving the room. He obviously wasn't of the same opinion as Molly.

Later in the darkest hours of the night, Holly found herself awoken with a hurting scar, trying to forget everything she'd seen in her dreams just some seconds ago. As silently as she could, she crawled to the end of the large bed the three girls had decided to sleep in all together, and slipped into one of the green dressing gowns, hanging next to the door.  
Since she didn't want to wake any of the girls, she'd decided to go down to the kitchen, maybe drinking some tea or hot chocolate to calm down again. She would do anything, to get rid of the tight feeling in her stomach. It was always the same dream, ending with Cedric's lifeless body, eyes staring empty from what once had been a very handsome face. Holly knew, she shouldn't blame herself, but she couldn't help it, no amount of telling herself to stop that bullshit ever helped, it always came back by night, taunting her again and again.  
After all, it had been her idea, to take that stupid cup together. Back then it had seemed to be a good idea, her and Cedric winning the tournament together. Little did she know, that taking that thing would mean his death, nearly hers too and the return of the darkest wizard, and biggest enemy, that ever existed.

Finishing her drink of hot chocolate, she went back to bed, trying shut down her brain with little success.

* * *

Next up will be the trial. What do you think will happen?  
Will the truth be acknowledged by the Ministry or will they find a way to lock Sirius up again?  
Leave a comment and stay tuned, I will upload several chapters this weekend alone!  
\- entscha


	5. The 8th of August

**Chapter 5:** **The 8** **th** **of August**

Time flew by at the headquarter. Every day was filled with tons of Mrs. Weasley's homemade meals, helping together to clean some of the more rarely used rooms in this old house (no one seemed to have bothered cleaning it in the last ten years by the looks of it) and most importantly spending time with her friends, just enjoying her time with them, laughing about all the pranks Fred and George played at their family and Order members, surprisingly often assisted by their sister Ginny.

And then suddenly, August the 8th had come. No one was up for jokes that morning, a great nervousness spread through the whole house. As usual Hermione tried to hide her being anxious by talking at a high speed, speaking every word and thought that came to her mind. Ron didn't say much, but he was quite pale around his nose, not eating much, something completely against his nature. Not even the Weasley twins tried to get their spirits up, for once not being up for jokes themselves, it seemed. Especially George seemed thoughtful, Holly caught him glancing concerned her way several times at breakfast. Although he was likely glancing at Sirius, who always sat beside her.

Finished with the meal, Ron, Hermione and Holly stood up and accompanied Sirius over to the big fireplace in the living room. Mrs. Weasley held out a box of floo powder and starting with Remus, who had just come done, joining them without having breakfast, one after the other took a handful of it, stepping into the fireplace, calling out their destination "Ministry of Magic" and disappeared in green flames. Holly held Sirius' hand reassuringly while waiting for her turn.

After being swirled around in the green fire, she was eventually spat out, landing hard on the black tiled floor. Ron helped her up and brushed some of the ashes off her shoulders and hair.

"At least this time you managed to land in the right place", he smirked. Despite the tension in her belly, she couldn't hold back her smile, remembering that time she'd unintentionally travelled to Knockturn Alley.  
At that moment, Sirius stumbled out of the fire behind her, coughing out a small cloud of smoke. Since everyone had arrived, Remus signed to them to follow him. The group silently walked through the big hall they had landed in, taking everything going on around them. From the many fireplaces, one witch or wizard appeared after the other, everyone quickly joining the steady stream to the elevators. Holly stopped in front of the five golden statues for a moment, smiling at the witch, wizard, centaur, goblin and house-elf. Even if the last three looked in a weird submissive way up to the witch and wizard, she liked the fountain nevertheless. At last several magical races were portrayed, standing together in unison. It gave her a feeling of hope.

Actually, several things made her feel that way lately, the biggest one of them being Sirius' trial. She'd never expected the ministry of magic to really give him a chance after everything that happened. Of course, the hope she felt was probably fuelled by her time spent at the headquarters, getting to see all the people who believed her, who prepared themselves to fight Voldemort. Also, she'd had the best week of her holidays so far, spending all that time with the Weasleys, Hermione and Sirius. She couldn't help having fun around them, enjoying herself for the first time since He had come back.

While she stood in front of the fountain, Sirius lay his arm around her shoulder.

"Everything will be fine, Holly, you'll see. In merely a few hours we'll be celebrating!"

Holly nodded, he was right of course: "I know, and I can't wait to tell everyone the truth about you." Sirius grinned at her, his grey eyes twinkling at her.  
She took his hand and they joined their group, stepping into one of the elevators, being lifted up, down and side-ways until a soft female voice said:

"Second floor: Department of Magical Law Enforcement", and Remus told them to get out.

They went past several desks, witches and wizards just beginning their day of work, sleepiness quite apparent on their faces. Remus headed up in front, Ron and Hermione just behind him, Holly and Sirius making up the rear of their group.  
Holly watched her two friends in front of her, while they were talking quietly with one another and wondered, when they would notice their feelings for each other. She was quite sure that none of them actually knew about it, but for Holly it was so obvious…  
The way they looked at each other, laughed together, sometimes exchanged innocent touches. Holly had always felt, that their relationship had been different than hers with Ron, even from the very start. And then last year at the yule ball. Ron had been furious, when he found out Hermione was attending with Krum.  
Of course, he'd never admitted to himself the true reasons for his reaction, but maybe one day he might.

After multiple corridors, the group came to a halt in front of a big, wooden door with a gold metal doorplate that said, "Courtroom 3".

"Here we are", Remus stated and opened the door.

The door led to a big square room, along all walls were several rows filled with witches and wizards wearing the same plum-coloured robes with an elaborate silver "W" across their breast: the Wizengamot. In the middle were two chairs waiting and behind those a long bench.  
Facing the chairs on an elevated podium, sat the Minister Cornelius Fudge accompanied by a witch on his right, wearing a stern expression and a monocle, on his left sat a tall man, who emanated a great deal of authority, towering over Fudge, grim face and his mane like hair reminding Holly of a lion. An old lion, perhaps, but a tough one, one to be reckoned with.

One of the plum-robed Wizards showed them their seats: Sirius was seated in one of the big chairs, all the others sat down on the bench behind him. Before Holly took her place, she reached over to Sirius, kissing him on the cheek reassuringly.  
Since they were a few minutes early, they had to wait. Holly didn't understand what for, in her opinion, everybody who was required for the hearing was present already. Then, suddenly, the door opened again, and Dumbledore entered the courtroom, followed by none other than Snape. Holly felt her heart dropping to the floor.

Snape would never be here to testify _for_ Sirius, right? Holly exchanged brief glances with Ron and Hermione, none of them looking very happy either, Ron even clenched his hands to fists, Hermione's brow furrowed in distress. Snape and Dumbledore sat down next to Remus on the Bench, then, the trial started.

First, Fudge talked a long time, about what, Holly couldn't say afterwards. Sirius was being questioned several things and Holly was proud to see that her godfather sat upright in his seat, self-confidently answering everything.  
Afterwards, it was their turn to talk. One after the other was called to take seat in the second chair, next to Sirius. An old witch with billowing auburn robes came up to them, once they were seated, and offered them a small vial of liquid. Holly knew, that it was the Veritaserum. She listened, as her friends recounted the events from the year before, when they had found out the truth about Sirius.  
Every once in a while, Holly saw individual witches or wizards of the Wizengamot nod in agreement, raising their eyebrows in surprise or shaking their head, shocked about what was apparently the truth about this man in front of them.  
After Dumbledore, Remus, Ron and Hermione, it was her turn.

"Holly Elisabeth Potter", the witch with the monocle pronounced and Holly slowly stood up, straightening her black skirt while walking over to take her seat. She could do this – for Sirius.  
The witch in auburn robes came forward again, handing her the vial of Veritaserum.  
Holly quickly gulped down the translucent liquid and immediately felt a weird sensation tickling down her spine, spreading through her blood system, down her limbs into every finger and toe, until her whole body was filled up with it. She couldn't really feel any part of her body after some moments, only her brain seemed to be working, as well as her ears, eyes and mouth.

"Let's start", said the lion like man next to Fudge. He was the one doing the interrogations.

"Your name and age, Miss?"

"Holly Elisabeth Potter, 15", Holly heard herself say monotonously, but she couldn't remember forming the words herself.

"Living address?"

Holly's mouth opened, but nothing came out. At that point, she heard someone stand up behind her. Dumbledore walked past her and up to the podium, whispering shortly into the lion-man's ear. He quickly went back to his seat afterwards. That was odd.

"Very well, no address apparently. Miss Potter, would you identify the man next to you?"

"That is Sirius Black, my godfather." She thought she sounded like a robot.

"Would you tell us everything you remember of the evening of June the 22nd 1994?"

Holly listened to herself speaking, retelling all the events of that day, beginning at having tea with Hagrid and ending at helping Sirius to escape.  
After she'd finished, she was allowed to sit down at the bench again. Only Snape was left.  
Surprisingly, Snape took the Veritaserum without resistance and told his side to the story, verifying everything the other witnesses had stated.  
Snape helping Sirius felt weird, really, Holly couldn't get herself to believe what she saw happening before her eyes. Weren't they like enemies or something?

Lastly, Fudge stood up:

"My dear Wizengamot, you've heard all the witnesses and the accused himself. Some revelations might be surprising or even shocking to you, but as you saw, their statements were given under the influence of Veritaserum. Please come to a conclusion now."

He waited a few seconds, then continued:

"Those in favour of convicting Sirius Black for the crimes he is indicted?"

Holly closed her eyes, too nervous to look at the plum-robed witches and wizards, but she heard Hermione next to her exhale.

"And those in favour of clearing Mr. Black of all charges?"

Holly peaked through her long black lashes. There were hands in the air, many, she couldn't possibly count them.  
More and more went up, in the end nearly every member of the Wizengamot had their hand up in the air, in favour for Sirius.  
Holly smiled, relieved, the tingling sensation of some salty teardrops running down her cheeks.

* * *

Hurray, Sirius is free!  
I always thought book-Sirius never got what he deserved for what had been done to him.  
I wanted him to get a chance of happiness for once, a chance to lead a happy life, even if it might not last forever (who knows?).

Also, the noble house of black is a little different in this version. It was left empty for long years, but all houseelves died during that time (therefore, no Kreacher in this story) and even though there is a painting of Mrs. Black somewhere in the house, she won't make many appearances. Mostly, she will stay silent, ashamed about what happened to her house, disappointed in her son left in her sorrow quite passive aggressive rather than insulting and screaming like she did in the books.

Let me know in the comments about your opinion so far. Any guess yet, who will be Holly's s.o.?  
Soon we will find out more, stay tuned!  
\- entscha


	6. Eavesdropping

**Chapter 6:** **New Revelations**

Holly was the first to travel back through the fire to Grimmauldplace, 12. Again, stumbling and nearly slamming her head on the stony mantlepiece of the fireplace.  
Just in time, two sets of arms caught her fall. Before she could recognize her saviours, Sirius and the rest of the group tumbled out behind her, ashes flying all around the living room.

"So? How' did it go?", a voice asked next to her into the silence.  
Sirius smirked mischievously and simply pronounced: "Molly, get out some butterbeer and sandwiches, time to celebrate!"

With that, all the anxiousness that filled the air disappeared. Several people cried out happily, running over to hug Sirius, pat his shoulder, kiss his cheek.  
Mrs. Weasley's eyes glistened with tears of joy, and Holly could feel hers getting watery again as well.  
The twins, who Holly found in that very moment had been the ones to catch her fall earlier, and Ginny broke out first in celebration, running around everyone, dancing and singing "He got off! He got off!" in a weird singsong.

They all spent the rest of the day celebrating Sirius being a free man again. Dumbledore must have send out some kind of message about what had happened at the trial, because more and more members of the Order arrived, joining the party at Grimmauldplace.  
This once, Holly thought, the place didn't look grim, but was filled with laughter and the sound of pure joy.

After everyone calmed down a bit again (except for Fred, George and Ginny, who were still singing, dancing through the house), Holly found herself standing in a corner of the living room, chatting with Remus and Tonks, who, today, wore her hair in blonde doll-like curls around her face.  
Out of nowhere, she was packed by someone from behind and got whirled around. Sirius' smile was in front of her, and together they spun in circles in the centre of the room. Holly couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably, her ears filled with the bark-like sound of her godfather's guffaw. Holly hadn't felt that happy in a long time.

After stopping, Sirius led her to the table, which nearly overflew with all the beverages and snacks, Mrs. Weasley had prepared for that moment.  
He handed her a new bottle of butterbeer and some pie. He then took a bottle himself and raised it in front of him:

"This is to everyone, who stood behind me, today and in all those dark years, I now will be able to leave behind. Thanks to Dumbledore, who managed to talk some sense into the Ministry. Thanks to Remus, my dear friend, who always had my back. Thanks to everyone who was willing to be questioned today, I really appreciate your help. More than you ever will be able to understand. And finally, thanks for all you people who are here now, celebrating with me! I love every single one of you!"

Sirius' proclamation was responded with many "Whooo"s and the clinking of bottles, as everyone imitated his toast and took a sip of their drink.

Holly sat down next to Ron. His mouth was stuffed with different foods, since he had not eaten anything for breakfast, he must have been starving – as Ron usually was. Holly leaned against him, smiling contently.  
Even though outside, a war was starting to form itself, today no thought was spent on that.  
For just one day, worries were nowhere to be found, not even in Holly's mind.

Some days later, in the evening, an important meeting was held again. And again, none of the "children" were allowed to join. Holly kind of understood the reasons but wanted to be a part of the fight nevertheless. Sitting in her room with Hermione and Ginny who were talking about the trial again, Holly closed her eyes, blending out everything.

She knew, she hadn't been talking much since her arrival at headquarters and the girls must have noticed something was off about her, but they let her be for now.  
She didn't mean to be so… uncommunicative, but she couldn't help it. She felt so out of place, next to her giggly friends after everything she had experienced in June. What if she would never be the same again, would never be able to joke around with Ron, giggle with Ginny, share every thought with Hermione again?  
What if she would always feel this lonely?

At that moment, a loud cracking sound made her jolt and right next to her, Fred appeared out of thin air, grinning from one ear to the other. Breathing calmly again, she waited for George to follow his brother – where one was, the second couldn't be far.  
Right she was, moments later, George joined them with the same cracking noise. Even though she'd been at the headquarters for over a week now, she hadn't gotten used to the twins' apparating all day. She couldn't understand how they wouldn't walk a single step and rather apparate… She still got sick at the memory of her first apparation with Tonks.

"Hey girls, hate to disturb you", George said cheekily.

"Yeah, sorry to break into your girly talks, but we thought you might be interested to hear something a little more important", Fred continued.

The twins had the girls' full attention, even though Hermione acted as if she wouldn't care, Holly could clearly see, she was curious about the boys' intention.  
Several moments went by in complete silence.

"Come on, don't tantalize us, spit it out already!"Ginny groaned impatiently.

Fred and George eyed one another, grinning mischievously.

"Okay, come on then, you better be quick" George whispered, before he and Fred went out the door, for once not apparating.

Swiftly, Ginny stood up from the bed and followed them. Hermione seemed to forget that she pretended not to care and left as well, signing Holly to come along.  
So, she did.

Downstairs in front of the door to the dining room, were all meetings were held, the twins, Ron and her girlfriends were gathered already. Fred got something out of his pocket, showing it to everyone. It looked like an ear, a long flesh coloured string attached to it.

"This, my dear friends, is one of our latest inventions. Since mum always puts a spell on the door, so we can't eavesdrop on their very important conversations, Georgie and I had to find another way to get to the information instead", he smirked.

George dig into his pockets and got out several of these ear-like things.

"Extendable ears, you see? Take one, put the string into your ear and put the extendable one as close to the door as possible – it works best if you stick it a little into that crack beneath the door."

After the explanation, everyone took one of the Ears and followed the twins' instructions. Immediately, Holly could hear the voices talking behind the closed door.

"I feel we should include Holly, after all, it all concerns her!" That had been Sirius talking.

"She is still too young, we cannot load all that weight onto a 15-year-old! I won't just watch you do that to her, she is still just a girl! I will not allow that to happen! Besides, she will sure as hell confide in her friends about what you want to tell her. We cannot let that happen, we can't involve all my children in the doings of the Order!"

Holly could imagine Molly Weasleys face, whilst she said that. She was a feisty witch, a force to be reckoned with. Although Holly couldn't disagree more, she had to smile in favour of Mrs. Weasley. After all, she only ever tried to protect her family and Holly just the same.

"Well, since I am Holly's guardian now that I was discharged, I will decide if Holly should be informed or not. I'm sorry if that means your children will be involved too, I truly am, but you cannot decide about Holly's participation with the Order. She is not your daughter, Molly!", Sirius barked.

A silence followed that statement, then a slightly trembling voice answered:

"You're right, Sirius, she is not. But that doesn't change the fact that I care about her deeply, as if she _were_ my daughter! I only want the best for her, and that means to protect her from every harm. Since you are her guardian, I would expect you to feel the same."

Holly felt a sting in her heart. She knew, she'd always been welcome at the Weasleys, and that Molly liked her and enjoyed fussing over her, but to hear out loud that she was like a daughter to her… Holly blinked away some tears. Her friends all watched her silently, Hermione patted her shoulder and Ron smiled at her.  
Even George sent a caring glance in her direction.

"Oh, so I'm a bad guardian now, is that what you want to say by that, Molly? I would do anything to keep Holly safe, but her being left out of all of this will not keep her safe! If we give her the needed information, she won't do anything stupid just to find out behind our backs!"

Several people muttered approvingly.

"I think Sirius is right. We need to tell her just the things she absolutely has to know about, that way she will feel acknowledged, which in turn will keep her safe from the dark lord and his forces", Mad-Eye Moody's voice snarled matter-of-factly.

"Let's take a vote about that", Dumbledore's calm voice stated.

"Everyone sharing Molly's opinion please rise your hand now."

Holly cursed under her breath for not being able to see the outcome.

"And everyone agreeing with Sirius?"

Again silence.

"Very well, everyone's dismissed, thank you for coming."

Suddenly, the scratching sound of moving chairs on the floor filled the air and Holly and her friends quickly grabbed all Expendable Ears and hurried up the stairs before the door opened and members of the Order filled the hallway.


	7. An unexpected Surprise

**Chapter 7** **An unexpected Surprise**

Days passed by and no member of the Order mentioned anything to her about the results of their decision, not even Sirius. Of course, no one knew that she and the others had listened to their talking at the meeting. Holly therefore started to accept, that she would not be informed about the doings of the secret organisation after all, and she felt let down by them. She regretted eavesdropping… if she never had heard them considering her involvement, she never would have started to hope.

Other than that, life went on as usual at Grimmauldplace, 12 and even though Holly still felt that weird loneliness, the invisible wall between her and her friends, slowly, she got used to spending more and more of her the time with Hermione and the Weasleys, opening up to them little by little, joking around, enjoying herself more times than feeling reserved. Sirius often was the centre of all the jolliness, still celebrating the outcomings of the trial.  
Only at night, when the darkness crept back into her head, she couldn't keep the nightmares and the nagging feeling of guilt away.

One day at lunch, Molly Weasley brought in several envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink, the seal with the well-known Hogwarts emblem leaving no doubt about what kind of letters they had gotten.

"Hogwarts letters just arrived!", Mrs. Weasley beamed and handed everyone their letter.

Holly got curious when she held hers in her hands, the letter unquestionably a lot thicker and heavier than usual. She had wondered when they would finally arrive, since in only some weeks, school would start again and normally, the letters arrived around Holly's birthday just at the start of August.

With slightly shaking hands, Holly slid the envelope open with her fingers. Inside were the usual messages and list of school books required for the new year. But something else brushed her fingers, something cold, causing the unusual weight. Holly turned her letter upside down, for that mysterious thing to slide into her open hand.  
It was a silvery badge in the form of the capital letter P. She'd been made a prefect.

Holly gulped in shock, never had she expected to receive this badge, she had always imagined Hermione wearing it, strolling the corridors at night on the prefect's control tour.  
Damn it! Hermione would be so disappointed about that! Holly didn't want to see her best friend hurt, less so be the reason for her sorrow. Maybe she could decline the position? Thinking about it, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to be a prefect. After all, that would mean a lot less fun and a lot more work to do.  
Or maybe, there had been a mistake. Surely, no one right in their mind would make her a prefect, rather than Hermione. Maybe their letters got switched? Holly flipped it over, but no, the neat handwriting clearly showed her name, scribbled across the parchment.  
How in the world would she explain that to Hermione?  
Carefully she looked to her left side, where her bushy-haired friend was seated next to her and found herself looking into the bright, brown eyes of Hermione, grinning at her like a Cheshire cat.

"I got one too!" Hermione screeched into her ear, while pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I can't believe we both did! I wasn't sure for weeks if I should expect the badge, with you being my toughest competition in the run for it, but now it all makes sense! I'm so glad that it will be us together!"

Holly did not quite understand how it happened, but suddenly everyone around the table was congratulating them. Ron stormed over to them, hugging both at once.

"I guess Dumbledore couldn't decide whom to take between the two of you, so he made you both into prefects", he joked happily.  
Holly was glad to see that at least he was not disappointed about not having been chosen for the job. While still holding them in his arms, he kissed the tops of both their heads.

"This year will be a blast, my two best mates being prefects! Free ride for just about anything!"

Seeing Ron that well spirited, Holly joined his laughter:

"Oh, you wish! We won't spare anyone, especially not you, from the rules. Or rather, our _rule_!"

Jokingly, Holly pushed against his chest and Ron pretended to stumble back, a grin still twisting his lips.

Mrs. Weasley put an end to the spectacle, deciding they would go to Diagon Alley just the other day after breakfast.

Next day, Holly, Hermione and the Weasleys left early, just after finishing breakfast. Remus, Tonks and even Sirius would accompany them to Diagon Alley. Latter enjoying the feeling of being able to walk out on the streets without having to disguise himself or fearing imprisonment. It was his first trip to Diagon Alley as a free man.

The Ministry of Magic had published a statement in the Daily Prophet about Sirius and soon after, every morning he found himself in a pile of letters – fan mail, mostly from women, declaring their shock about he had been treated during the last years and promising they'd always believed him to be innocent, pronouncing their feelings for him. Some assuring, they never stopped loving him, so they must have been his girlfriends or lovers a long time ago, Holly concluded.

Even though Sirius joked about it non-stop, Holly knew he secretly enjoyed receiving this sort of mail, a player through and through. She loved seeing him that happy.  
Never had he looked better (except maybe back before his imprisonment), no longer haggard from his time in Azkaban, back to his lean, yet muscular shape. His dark curls were shorter now but still framed his radiating face, grey eyes twinkling in delight, his lips always twisted to his disarming smile. Even the faint stubble he had begun to keep, suited him.

Holly was so incredibly glad her godfather had gotten justice. Even though the Ministerium still was the same incompetent pile of shit as always, not revealing to the wizarding word the truth about Voldemort's return, at least they had come to reason about Sirius. She thought that there was some hope left for them to accept all truth in hopefully near future.

At Diagon Alley, the group split up. Mrs. Weasley left with Ron and Fred, to buy all the needed potions ingredients at the Apothecary. Tonks went with Hermione and Ginny to get the required books at Flourish and Blotts'. That left Sirius and Remus to accompany herself and George to buy some new school robes at Madam Malkin's.

While the two got measured up, Sirius and Remus waited at the door. Holly could hear them whispering, laughing every once in a while. To witness her uncles being that happy, filled her belly with warmth.

"So, excited for the new school year? Still can't believe _you_ have been made a prefect! I'm honestly a little disappointed in you", George said wryly.

Holly looked to her side, where George stood, arms stretched away from his body while Madam Malkin herself hurried around him, pinning the simple, black school robes in place at his ankles. His blue eyes twinkled cheekily while he grinned at her.

"Yeah, guess so. I don't understand that part either, _I_ would never have chosen myself for that kind of job. Maybe it's Dumbledore's way of trying to calm me down… now I really should keep to rules after all."

Holly shrugged her shoulders, immediately being scolded for moving by the assistant working on her robes.

"Maybe you're right. I just hope you won't make my life _too_ hard from now on, because I probably will not find myself able to stick to _all_ those rules, you know", George winked at her. "maybe you will even have to give me detention from time to time for the things I'll do."

Holly was startled by the playfulness in George's voice. She hadn't even thought about that part of her job. Keeping Fred and George from breaking the rules won't be easy. Especially since she loved watching them doing all that crazy stuff. It sometimes was the only thing that kept up her spirits in stressful times.

"If I were you, I would be more careful, Mr. Weasley. After all, I really _could_ give you detention. Or worse yet, tell your mum."

She wiggled her eyebrows in his direction. He playacted as if he'd been shot right into his heart, earning himself a piercing look from Madam Malkin herself.

"Oh please, milady, don't do such a terrible thing to me! I will do anything for you, if only you promise to never act on this truly horrible threat!"

The corners of his mouth twitched a little, Holly smirked at those words herself.

"Well, my dear Mr. Weasley. I _never_ intended to hurt you, I will keep you safe, as long as you play by _my_ rules."

He was stunned for a moment, not saying anything. Then he replied saucily:

"Can't wait to prove myself worthy to you."

Holly felt herself blush faintly at those words. Fred and George always made their fun about everyone and often she had been participating in their jokes, but never had she felt like she did now at that moment.  
She shook her head just a bit, but unfortunately, lost her balance by doing so and fell from the little stool she'd stood upon and tumbled to the floor, taking the assistant with her in her fall.

George broke out in roaring laughter and as soon as she'd sat up again, she couldn't help and join him. Madam Malkin and the assistant tried to calm them down, scolding them both for not standing still.

"If you two won't stop immediately, I'm afraid you'll have to go somewhere else to buy robes! I will not have this kind of behaviour in my shop!", Madam's eyes sparkled angrily, her small fists pressed to her meagre body.

Exchanging one last glance, Holly and George suppressed their laughter and stood as straight as soldiers on their stools again. Madam and her assistant went back to work, both a frown on their face, mumbling silently to themselves about the behaviour of the young these days. From the corner of her eyes, Holly saw it took all George's strength to keep from bursting into laughter again and had to look away in order to stay calm herself.

Afterwards, Remus and Sirius guided them to look at new brooms and other Quidditch stuff at Quality Quidditch Supplies', then Holly hurried into Eeylops' to buy a few packages of owl treats for Hedwig. Lastly, George hopped into the joke shop purchasing some mysterious items, he wouldn't show.

"I think you would prefer not to know, being prefect and everything", he whispered into Holly's ear, when she looked at him curiously. His breath tickled the soft skin at the nape of her neck, creating a small patch of goose bumps beneath her thick, jet-black hair.  
She just sighed and rolled her eyes at him, irritated at his comment, not responding any other way.  
Slowly, they walked down the Alley, listening to Remus' and Sirius' talk about this and that. Then they joined the rest of the Weasleys at Florean Fortescue's for some delicious ice cream before heading back home.

* * *

Hello friends! ;)  
Hope you enjoy the development of the story so far!

What do you think about Holly being a prefect?  
I know, normally it would be a girl and boy, but "my" Dumbledore will be somewhat different than J.K. Rowling's, so it just felt right.  
Stay tuned  
\- entscha


	8. Walburga Black

**Chapter 8** **Walburga Black**

The last few weeks at Grimmauldplace Holly found herself opening up some more. Most of the time, she felt pretty normal, back to her old self nearly, even if not quite.  
Ron teased her about having her head in the clouds whenever she sat too silently, whenever she felt that wall again that separated her from her friends.  
Hermione often glared at him at those words, she thought it best to leave Holly to herself in those moments.  
It seemed her best girl friend was one of the few,who understood Holly's feelings at least a bit, as best as anyone could.  
Ginny did her best to take Holly's mind elsewhere, talking about Quidditch or anything that came to her mind and sometimes, it would work and take Holly out of that lonely place, she kept herself imprisoned in.  
The twins did their usual pranks to cheer her up and she felt especially close to George these days. Quite often, when she wouldn't speak, he just sat next to her while the others around them talked about this and that.

Sometimes though, Holly couldn't stand being near her joyful friends. At those times, she would sneak out into the small garden behind the big house and enjoy some time thinking, at ease with just being for herself a while.

One day, when she had slipped out again and sat underneath the big willow in the back of the garden, Sirius followed her. First, she wasn't sure about him keeping her company, but she soon found, that he truly understood how she felt.

He'd been in Azkaban for twelve years, innocent. His best friend dead, everyone thinking it had been his fault, believing he had been a death eater, a traitor, blaming him for the biggest loss he had experienced.  
He had spent so many years alone, he understood Holly's situation, even though he felt his had been easier somehow. At least he knew, that none of it had been his fault.  
Not that he blamed Holly for Cedrics death, not in one bit, nor that Voldemort had come back from the dead, but he knew, she did so herself. Him not being able to stop her from it, hurt him most.

So, he did anything he could to help her out of that dark place, she'd landed in.  
Most of the time, they didn't speak when they sat leaned to the trunk of the tree, he just held her in his arms, softly patting her back or shoulder, simply being there for her while she soundlessly cried at his shoulder.  
Sometimes, he would tell her stories of his life, growing up in that dark house behind them, with a terrible mother on top of it. He'd make her smile at the pranks his brother and him had played on their parents, the houseelves or other relatives at family gatherings.  
Other times, he would remember his time with James and Lily.  
Those were her favourite stories. Whenever he told her one of those, she'd come from the darkness immediately and actively join the conversation, asking questions, laughing with him about all the stupid things the marauders did in their schooldays.

Holly enjoyed those moments with her godfather, leaning against his strong shoulder, relishing in the stories he would tell her.  
Whenever he held her, she couldn't help but feel safe in those strong arms.

One of these days, he recounted one of his childhood memories, when she interrupted him:

"Even though she wasn't a good mother, I kind of feel sorry for your mum. It must have been very difficult to have you as a son!"

He was startled for a moment, then laughed loudly.

"Yeah, you are probably right, sweetie. Although, mother was quite a fierce woman, so she managed to keep the upper hand most of the time. Now that I think of it, would you like to meet her?"

Holly opened her eyes in surprise.

"What do you mean? I thought she was dead?"

"That she is, but I happen to have found an old painting of her in one of the upper salons we don't use at the moment. Would you like to see it?"

Without hesitation, Holly nodded, and Sirius grabbed her hand to pull her up with him.  
Quickly, they headed up the stairs into a corridor Holly hadn't been to before. Sirius opened one of the doors on their left side and Holly found herself in a smaller version of the down-stairs living room.  
It was one of the rooms, they hadn't yet had a chance to clean, but Holly saw anyway how beautiful a room it must have been back in the days of Sirius' childhood. Even now, with all the dust laying on the wooden floor and dark furniture and the cobwebs hanging from the ceiling it held some kind of beauty within.

All walls of this room were coated with picture frames, just small pieces of evergreen wallpaper could be spotted here and there in between. The frames had all different sizes, the smallest one Holly spotted only slightly bigger than the palm of her hand, the biggest up above the fire place as tall as her, if not taller.  
All those portraits on the walls reminded her of the headmaster's office at Hogwarts.  
Even though some frames were empty, most pictures were inhabited by witches and wizards of all different ages. Many of them resembling Sirius a lot. Especially the light grey, sparkling eyes seemed to have been an inherited trait in this family.  
Because that was what they were, Holly realized. Sirius' ancestors.

Her godfather still stood at her side, watching her taking it all in.

"Very well, Mrs. Potter, prepare yourself to meet my lovely family!", he joked, smiling at her expression.

They walked alongside the wall on their left and Sirius explained this and that about some of the portraits they passed.

"This was my uncle Alphard Black, one of my favourites to be true. That's uncle Cygnus, I believe you happen to know his grandson, Draco Malfoy?  
Ah, and here we have grandfather, Arcturus Black. Next to him, of course, my namesake Sirius Black I, he was my great great grandfather.  
This one is my dear grandmother Irma Crabbe…lovely woman. She would always slap the back of my head whenever I did something she considered inappropriate. Which included just about everything.  
Next is my great grandmother Violetta Bulstrode and there on top the big one is Phineas Nigellus Black. You might know him, since he'd been headmaster at Hogwarts back in the 1920s. He's got a portrait up in Dumbledore's office as well…"

Sirius went on and on spilling more and more details about his family, Holly could never keep everything in her head. Especially, when she realized, Sirius to be related to several of her Hogwarts colleagues, and not the nice ones, in her opinion.

Malfoy, Crabbe, Bulstrode, Flint, Burke, Yaxley, she could not believe they all belonged to Sirius' family, even though she had known her godfather's family to be pureblooded, she had never wasted much of a thought about that.  
Sirius sensed her mood and stopped talking, turning to face her.

"Holly, all those pureblood families had to marry one another in order to stay pure, do you understand? I'm not saying it was the right thing to do, it really wasn't, but they were so obsessed with their idea of purity…  
You see, I'm not only related to the bad ones. I'm distantly related to the Longbottoms for instance, and the Weasleys too. Arthur is actually my second-cousin and Molly is my cousin through their marriage, as well as some distant relative through this one, Ignatius Prewett", he pointed at a painting at those last words.

"Also, Tonks is my cousin Andromeda's daughter and over there is even a picture of one Charlus Potter, a distant relative of both you and me.  
I know it must sound terribly weird for you, but that's just the way it is. We are all related somehow, because some demented people thought they had do keep magical blood _pure_.  
Today there are hardly any purebloods left, many old wizarding families have disappeared completely. I am the last of the Name of Black. If I don't happen to have sons someday, my name will die with me. You are the last Potter as well. If everyone had followed this madness of purity, there might not be any wizards and witches left at all. Thank Merlin _some_ of our ancestors were not as conservative and married muggles or muggleborns.  
Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Sirius had kept her at shoulder's length away from him, whilst speaking. Of course, he was right, she understood now. It just had been a shock to find out about all that.  
Since she hadn't found her voice yet, she simply nodded, agreeing.

Sirius sighed and pulled her against his chest for a hug.

"Thanks for telling me about all of this", she finally whispered into the fabric of the grey shirt he wore that day.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Now, I thought you wanted to meet my mother?"

He released her and led her over to a big painting, just next to an old piano that stood by the wall. It showed an elderly witch, probably in her late 90's, which wasn't old for witches or wizards at all.  
She was asleep at the moment, her face relaxed, even though her brow was still raised to a frown. Judged by her facial features, she must have been very pretty when she'd been young. Her hair was grey now, Holly wondered, if it had been of the same colour as Sirius' luscious brown curls.  
At that moment, the woman opened her eyes, piercing right into Holly's with a fierceness Holly would not have expected from her.  
Her eyes were indeed just like her son's.

"Holly, this is my mother, Walburga Black. Mother, this is Holly Elisabeth Potter, the girl who lived."

Walburga seemed to be startled for a moment, then she simply nodded shortly.

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Black", Holly heard her voice tremble a little.

This woman was so incredibly authoritative, even without speaking one single word. Her body language and facial expressions were everything she needed to show who was boss.

Mrs. Black stared at her son for several moments, the look in her eyes so unlike her Son's, even though earlier at first glance they'd appeared to be the same.  
Sirius's eyes always were soft and warm, a nice contrast to their colour, while his mother's were hard and cold, radiating just that. Holly felt a shiver running down her spine whenever she dared to look into them.

Out of nowhere, Sirius shrugged his shoulders, took Holly's hand again in his and together they left the room with Mrs. Black alone in the darkness.

Down in the kitchen, they sat down at a small table.

"So, what do you think about my dear mother? Isn't she such a nice person?"

Back down in the light of the warm kitchen, Holly got rid of that uncomfortable feeling her godfather's mother had given her. She laughed:

"Yeah, never met anyone that lovely! You know I can't believe that woman was your mother, even though I know so many of your stories now. I guess, I finally understand why you did all those things to her. Has she always been like…"

Holly thought about a word that would describe his mother's behaviour, but for lack of one, she just said: "…this?", hoping he would get her meaning anyway.

Sirius bobbed his head around, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"Well, she had always been a cold-hearted bitch, but usually she'd scream at me, punish me, scold me or insult me. I don't know what happened to her that left her this way. It's as if she'd lost her voice...  
Never in my life had she been this silent. Back then, I'd often wished she had for once been able to shut her mouth. Maybe it was my brother's death, she'd always loved him more than me after all."

Sirius shrugged, and Holly patted his folded hands that lay on the table.

* * *

Hey there again! :)  
Thank you so much for reading my story, I really do hope you like it so far!  
What do you think about my version of Sirius' mum?  
Any ideas, why she's mute? And who do you think Holly will fall for?  
Please leave a comment if you are reading, I would love to hear any opinion!  
Stay tuned,  
\- A


	9. Soothing Cinnamon Scents

**Chapter 9** **Soothing Cinnamon Scents**

Holly was in a gloomy place, she was sure she had never seen before. Something about it immediately reminded her of that cemetery, but this time she somehow knew to be somewhere else entirely. In the corner of the room, she could hear a horrifying, quiet moaning, it sounded muffled as if it's origin was hidden behind something. It was so dark, she hardly saw anything, all she could make out was some weird bundle, laying on the floor over there.  
Holly raised her wand in that direction, frightened, when she saw the long, pale, spiderlike fingers wrapped around it.  
Just that it wasn't actually her wand either.

Gently she pointed her wand at the bundle that lay there in the corner. Without a word, the bundle lifted up into the air, floating over to her where it came to an abrupt halt. Holly swallowed, disgusted at the sight in front of her.

What she had thought to be a bundle, actually turned out to be a woman's naked body. The only piece of cloth left on her body was the dirty rag someone had stuffed into her mouth.  
She was badly injured, bruises covering every single inch of skin, several gaping wounds here and there still dripping with blood. Multiple streams of the thick red liquid run down the body, seeping to the floor, pooling at her feet.  
The worst was the woman's face, it was swollen, bruised, some marks looked as though she had been burned with something. The lips chapped, hair tangled, some places matted with what must be dried blood. The one eye that hadn't swollen shut looked at her in panic, yet there was some kind of emptiness in the glance.  
Holly was terrified by the sight of it, and even though she couldn't recognize who that woman was, Holly was sure to have seen her before, she felt oddly familiar.

Where was she? What did she do here?

All of a sudden, Holly could hear a horrible, cold laughter coming out of her throat. Shivers ran down her spine at the cruel sound of it.

"My dear guest, I'm so happy I can finally inform you that you are no longer of use to me.  
See, you will finally get the release you have been begging for since you came here", the cold voice stated without any emotion.

Holly watched the woman's face crumble, tears swimming in the open eye. Merlin, let it be over with already.  
If only Holly could leave this place.  
Where the fuck was she?

The wand in front of her was lifted higher:

"It will be over soon, I promise. Just a little more fun and you will be released… Crucio!"

The body, still floating in the air, twisted and turned in pain, dreadful sounds leaving the woman's throat, screams of torture, muffled by that rag in her mouth.

"Crucio" the voice said, again and again, laughing in between. At the same time, his victim's body seemingly lost the rest of what little life had still been within it.  
The woman must have passed out after sometime, because the screams stopped, and the body hung even limper in the air than before. Holly couldn't stand it, closed her eyes, tried to blend everything out. Then:

"Avada Kedavra."

A green light filled the dark space and the body fell down to the floor.

...

Holly pulled herself up, heavily breathing, the images of the crime she'd just witnessed still in front of her, even though she slowly realized, she was back in her room at Grimmauldplace, in her bed. Next to her, Ginny and Hermione were still sleeping, breathing steadily.

Her racing heart slowed down after some time, but she couldn't process the things she'd just seen. That poor woman! Holly felt something wet dripping to the bare skin of her thigh. Silent tears streamed down her face.

Grabbing her dressing gown, she went out of the room, down to the kitchen yet again. So many nights she found herself in this room, but usually after a different kind of nightmare, usually she dreamt of the cemetery or Voldemort finding her, her friends, hunting them down.  
Mostly she saw Cedric's handsome face with those dead eyes staring at her emptily, however even in death accusingly, blaming her for the loss of his life.

This time had been different. This had not been a normal nightmare, not some kind of horrible spawn her subconsciousness had come up with.  
This time, she had actually seen something real.  
Somewhere at that very moment, a woman had gotten tortured and murdered by Lord Voldemort and Holly had witnessed it happening.  
How could that be? Why had she seen it happening as if _she_ were Voldemort?

Still crying, trembling, she sat down onto the carpet in front of the fire, trying to calm herself, hoping the warmth would help her forget what she had seen.

Out of nowhere, a hand touched her shoulder. Frightened to death she startled, jumping to her feet at once, ready to fight if necessary.  
Next to her stood George, his hands held out in front of him, obviously confused by her reaction.

"Damn it, Holly, it's just me!", he spoke softly.

Holly took a deep breath and nodded once before sitting down again, wiping her hand over her face to hide the tears from him. With little success.

"Have you been crying? What's wrong, Holly?" His voice was full of concern.

He sat down next to her, again touching her shoulder in comfort.  
This time, at the sense of his touch, she couldn't hold back anymore, she burst into tears again, sobbing uncontrollably. George, without hesitation, wrapped her into his arms tightly and stroke over her sleep tangled, dark hair whilst she sobbed into the front of his t-shirt.

He must have thought her crazy, sitting in front of the fire at night, alone, crying for no apparent reason at all, but he just held her in his arms anyway, trying to comfort her, showing her, she wasn't alone.

Somehow, it helped. She couldn't explain why, but being hugged by him, feeling his strong arms around her, his fingers tenderly caressing her head and back whilst murmuring softly into her hair… All of that helped. She couldn't understand a word he said, since she was still sobbing too loudly herself, but hearing his gentle voice was incredibly soothing.

After a while, the sobs grew quieter, and while tears still soaked the fabric of his t-shirt, her breathing slowly calmed down as well. Without thinking about it, Holly began to speak unsteadily:

"I was just asleep. At first, I thought it was one of my usual nightmares, but it was so very different than usual. There… was a woman. I don't know who she was, but I think I knew her. Vo… Vol… He was there too. She was already deeply injured, nearly dead by the looks of it. He tortured her nevertheless, telling her she was of no use to him any longer. That she would be 'released' soon. I can still hear her screams and his laughter. It was fun to him, seeing her in pain, being the cause of it… She went numb after some time. Then he …"

Holly swallowed to keep another sob down.

"He…"

Holly couldn't finish the sentence, but there was no need for it, George got her meaning all the same.  
He didn't say a word, for fuck's sake, he didn't know what to say to her after that story. He just pulled her a little tighter to his chest, putting his head on top of hers, his cheek against her hair.

Holly felt his embrace growing tighter around her and she pressed her face harder against George's broad chest, burying herself into his soft (even though thanks to her soaking wet) t-shirt. One arm wrapped around his body, the other hand resting just under his collarbone, on top of his heaving chest. The rhythm of his beating heart beneath her ear comforted her more than anything.  
Content, she inhaled deeply, breathing in his musky, yet somehow freshly clean scent.  
It reminded her of the Burrow and Quidditch and for some inexplicable matter of cinnamon.  
This smell helped her relaxing even more, she could feel all the tension falling off her body.

Holly could not say for how long they had stayed in that exact position, holding onto one another, sitting on that soft, velvety carpet in front of the dancing flames. It must have been quite a while though, because slowly, a new day started to break.  
When the first light of the day began to show outside the kitchen window, Holly softly released her arms from George and he did the same, however he didn't let go of her completely.  
He laid his hands gently to the sides of her waist, his touch causing a tingling sensation that spread through her entire body and made a shiver run down her spine.

She could now see the dark stain her tears had left on his chest, it made her smile for some reason. She had left her mark on him. What a weird thought!

Slowly, she lifted her eyes, up to his face. His sparkling blue eyes expecting her already. Holly had never been this close to him, she could count every single freckle on his face if she'd wanted to. Had he always been this handsome? A grin started to show on his lips, she'd never noticed that it was ever so beautifully lopsided.  
Holly shifted uncomfortably, stressed out by the sudden turn of her thoughts and blinked whilst a faint blush crept up her cheeks and she quickly turned her eyes away from George's face.

"I…" she started, but she didn't know what to say.

"I…" another attempt.

"Thanks, I guess."

She risked looking up at him again now, glancing through her eyelashes.  
He was still smiling.  
Still lopsided.  
Damn it.

"Don't worry, you're welcome. I'm just glad I could be of service, _milady_ ", he returned to their usual joking. Holly could do that too.

"That you were, Mr. Weasley."

She couldn't help but smile. What the fuck was wrong with her? This was George fucking Weasley after all!  
George shook his head in amusement, his ginger hair moving slightly with the motion.

"Well, I guess we should better go back to bed before anyone finds us here, don't you?", George asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

When she nodded in agreement, he lifted his hands from her waist and it felt as if a spell had been broken by that move. He patted her thigh softly before standing up.  
Another shiver.  
All Holly could do was hope he hadn't noticed. Or if he had, hopefully he would blame it on the morning chill that had spread through the kitchen. Apparently, the fire had gone out some time ago. Holly hadn't noticed until now.

As soon as he stood, he stretched out one hand to her:

"Milady, would you do me the great honour of escorting you up to your chambers?"

Smirking again, she put her small hand into his and stood up. Her body ached from sitting on the floor for so long.

"There is nothing I'd rather do."

* * *

Voilà!  
George fucking Weasley everybody!  
Do you think this will be the one Holly will fall for?  
Or will she return to her senses... after all, George had always been more like a brother to her, never had she imagined something like that to happen with him!  
Stay tuned!  
\- A


	10. A Journey begins

**Chapter 10** **A Journey begins**

Without any warning, the summer suddenly was over.  
Holly was busy packing all the stuff she would need for the new term, rummaging in her room to find everything. Weirdly, many of her possessions had found their way out of her room, laying about all around the house. Especially books were spread all over the place, so it took her quite some time to get everything together.

Whilst carrying a huge pile of all different kinds of stuff out of the living room, that she'd collect there, she nearly bumped into someone just coming through the door.  
George.  
Of course.

Ever since that night she had tried to keep out of his way, ashamed not only about opening up to him like she did, sharing that story, letting him see her true self down to the bottom of her soul, but more about the way she had felt with him.

She still felt herself blush just at the memory of his touch against her body or the way his bright eyes twinkled down at her.  
The way he smiled, one corner of his mouth slightly higher than the other.  
The way his broad chest had felt against her cheek, under her small hand the sound and rhythm of his heart beat.  
And his smell… Damn it, Potter, get yourself together!

Right, it was too embarrassing to even think about it!

In order to keep herself from exactly that, she had tried her best to spend as little time possible in his proximity, always keeping enough distance between them just making sure she would be able to think straight. After all, hadn't she always thought the twins to be like brothers to her? How could she think like that about someone she also thought of as a brother? That was not natural in her opinion.

She had managed to keep her distance, up until now. She sighed.

"Oi, _milady_ , need some help with this?"

Before Holly could even answer, he'd already pulled out his wand and taken over.

"Thanks, George, but I'm perfectly capable to manage myself", she heard herself say dryly.

For a moment he was stunned by the irritated tone of her words.

"Pardon, milady. I merely wanted to offer you a helping hand, as a real gentleman is supposed to do. Now, would you like to take up my offer or shall I let yourself be the strong independent woman you certainly are?"

Holly smiled sheepishly.

"I guess I would be happy to take you by your words, Mr. Weasley. Prove yourself worthy of the honour, dear friend."

George laughed and magically brought everything up into her room.  
He even helped her sorting the whole lot and packing it into her trunk. He explained, his stuff had already been safely stored.

Even though Holly and George didn't talk much whilst working side by side, she did not feel uncomfortable next to him. Whenever Holly kept her silence with the other Weasleys or Hermione, it would always feel sort of awkward. She had actually kind of gotten used to it by now.  
But there was no such thing with George.  
Holly began to relax a little next to him. Maybe all the things she'd been thinking lately were not real after all. Maybe she had just needed a little distance from him, time for herself and now everything was back to normal between them. Back to how it used to be and should be, in her opinion.

But then unintentionally their hands touched briefly, just for the split of a second. It was enough for Holly to feel that odd tingling again.  
So much about everything being back to normal.  
Why couldn't she just turn this stupid dragon's shit off?

When they were done and had her trunk locked up, George sat down on her bed and looked at her, his head just slightly bent to his left side. Even though they hadn't talked whilst packing either, the silence that filled the space between them suddenly changed. Holly felt herself getting uncomfortable again and hugged herself, trying to keep her thoughts straight.

George simply smiled at her.  
Not jokingly like he usually did, it was more like a calm, honest sort of smile.

"Relax, Holly, don't get all tensed up again."

Holly let out a breath she hadn't even noticed she'd been holding and let her arms swing down by her sides freely. George's brow furrowed slightly, as if in concentration about what he had to say next.

"I… I just wanted to tell you that I've been thinking about that night. I know, it's not easy for you to let people in right now, but I'm just really glad you opened up to me like you did… I really appreciate your trust in me and I want you to know that I'd like to be there for you whenever you need someone to talk to or someone to be silent with for that matter.  
So please, stop being ashamed about anything you said or did… I noticed you stay away from me since then whenever you can, but I don't want you to.  
You really don't have to do that, there is nothing you have to be embarrassed about with me."

George finished, and looked her straight into the eyes. She couldn't think of a time before that, where he'd been that serious. Normally he wouldn't stop fooling around, playing pranks, thinking about new ways to skip certain school subjects and other things like that.  
Never before had he talked to her in such an earnest way.  
For some moments she stared into the freckled face of George Weasley, sitting there on her bed, talking like he actually cared about something. For no apparent reason at all, she felt herself blush, just a tiny bit, but still she hated her body for betraying her.

"Thanks, George."

She hardly heard her own voice, it had merely been a whisper but it seemed as if George had gotten the meaning since he stood up, stretching his arms ever so slightly.

"Well, I should better get back downstairs now or else Fred might start wondering where I am."

With those words and a crooked smile on his lips, he left through the door.  
For once, not apparating.

...

Next day was the 1st of September.  
After a hearty breakfast prepared by none other than Mrs. Weasley (Holly would miss her cooking, even though Hogwarts' food was delicious as well) and a stressful last minutes of packing, everyone had their trunks brought down to the hallway, ready to head over to King's Cross.

Just when she wondered, how they would go there as she left through the door, she saw a stunning old-timer car parked in front of the house. Holly felt her mouth drop open at its beauty.

"Quite some sight, don't you think?" A barking laugh came from behind her.

"This, my beautiful goddaughter, is another part of my heirloom: a Mercedes-Benz 230 Capriolet, the 1936 model in the colour _champagne_."

Holly circulated the vehicle once, marvelling it from all sides. She hadn't ever thought much about cars and hated listening to uncle Vernon's never-ending talk about different brands, comparing everyone with another. But not even she could deny the obvious beauty of the car in front of her.  
Sirius chuckled and opened up the door for her like the gentleman he was:

"Your Highness, please get inside the car now, we will be leaving soon."

When Holly climbed inside she wasn't surprised to find its interior to be enlarged. Even a family as big as the Weasleys could fit inside comfortably, she thought.

While one after the other climbed inside, her presumption was proven right. Even with the cages of their pets, there was still plenty of room left. She leaned back against the soft leather seat and looked back at Grimmauldplace, 12 whilst leaving it behind.  
It felt weird to be leaving, actually. Holly couldn't explain why or how, but that dark place had over the last weeks become more of a home to her than the Dursley's ever had been.  
At least this year, she would come back to spend Christmas with her godfather and probably several members of the Order including the Weasleys.  
Holly found herself looking forward to it already.

Arriving at King's Cross, the annual stress began. Even though they had left earlier than they had often before, they only just made it in time through the barrier. Everyone hurried to get their trunks inside then it was time to say good-bye.

First, Holly hugged Mrs. Weasley. The motherly redhead held her tightly and told her once again to stick to the rules, stay safe, not to do anything _she_ wouldn't do and if ever there were any problems, not to hesitate and inform her immediately.

Then Remus took over.  
Holly had to promise nearly the same things again. It kind of amused her, she never had thought of Mrs. Weasley and her uncle having that much in common.

Lastly, it was Sirius' turn. He too told her, to play it safe this year:

"Holly, sweetie, listen: I know what it's like to be your age and I know I never kept to the rules myself back in the days.  
But times have changed, and I don't want you to stumble into dangerous happenings just for the fun of it.  
I love you, Holly, as if you were my own, so please, try to stay below the radar this year, for me."

Holly stared into her godfather's caring eyes and nodded.

"Of course, Sirius."

She pecked his cheek good-bye and jumped into the train just in time before it started leaving the gate.  
Touched by her uncle's words she watched him get smaller and smaller, as the Hogwarts Express picked up speed and finally pulled into the turn, pushing Sirius out of her sight.


	11. Hogwarts Express

**Chapter 11** **Hogwarts Express**

In the train Ron, Hermione and her managed to find themselves an empty compartment near the end of the train. Even though Ginny met several of her friends in the corridor, she joined them, preferring to spend some more time in their company.

After storing their trunks above their seats, Holly and Hermione quickly changed into their school robes, since they were expected to meet in the prefect's compartment just in some minutes, where they would receive their first instructions from this year's headboy and headgirl.  
Just when they were about to leave, Neville opened the door and slid inside.

"Hey everyone, do you have an empty seat for me to take?"

Hermione showed him which seats were available and he went over to put his trunk on the rack, breathing heavily at its weight.

Holly then greeted Neville and hugged him, since he had grown quite a bit over the summer she had to stand on her tiptoes in order to reach his shoulders. All the others greeted Neville as well and he finally sat down next to Ginny.  
All of them chatted for a few minutes, exchanging details about their holidays, then it really was time for her and Hermione to leave. Whilst walking, Holly pinned her prefect's badge to the left side of her robes, just above her heart, as she'd seen all the other prefects wear them over the years.

When they arrived at their destination, most of the others had already gathered inside. Holly saw her colleagues Ernie Macmillian and Hannah Abbott had been made Hufflepuff's fifth-year prefects and to her surprise, Ravenclaw's turned out to be two boys, whom she knew as well: Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot.  
Only the Slytherins hadn't shown up yet, to nobody's surprise. At least, Holly thought, that didn't make Hermione and herself the last ones to arrive.

Several minutes passed without the Slytherins turning up, so the new headgirl, a Ravenclaw Holly didn't know the name of even though she knew her face began speaking:

"Well, let's better get started, I will handle the new Slytherin prefects later.  
First, I'd like to introduce myself to those, who might not know me. My name is Daisy Haworth, 7th year Ravenclaw and now this year's headgirl."

She looked over to the boy sitting behind her. Holly hadn't been able to see who it was until now and was surprised to see one of her fellow Gryffindors, Kenneth Towler, who was in Fred and George's year. Smiling in her direction, he stood up and waved slightly.

"Hey everyone. I'm Kenneth Towler, your new headboy."

After his short introduction he sat back down again, and let Daisy do all the talking.  
She explained all the rules prefects had to stick to as well as all the privileges that came with their new position. Some of the sixth- and seven-year prefects rolled their eyes every now and then, as there nothing of it was news to them.  
Before everyone was released for their first inspection tours through the train, Draco Malfoy knocked open the compartment door and strolled inside, followed by none other than that bitch Pansy Parkinson.  
Slytherins had decided to make their appearance, after all.

Daisy stared at the two angrily while finishing her last sentence, ignoring Malfoy and Parkinson as good as she could:

"As you can see, this year Dumbledore changed the rule that prefects always have to be a girl and a boy. He explained to us that he thinks it's fairer this way, as he now can make sure only the best will be able to regain this position, regardless of their gender. Therefore, this year's Ravenclaw prefects are both boys and Gryffindor's are girls.  
Well, I think that's everything for now, you are dismissed."

When everyone stood up to leave Kenneth added:

"Not you two, Malfoy, Parkinson."

Holly saw Malfoy's sour expression at those words, while he froze in his movement and slowly turned back to face Kenneth. It took all Holly's strength to keep a straight face, and Hermione and her quickly hurried out into the corridor before breaking into a laugh.

The two girls had been scheduled for the first inspection tour, so they didn't go back to her friends for now. While strolling through the corridors Holly noticed many people growing silent when she passed them. Some started whispering as soon as they saw her, others simply stared at her, mouths dropped open.

Hermione did most of their job, scolding students here and there when needed, threatening some already with detention. Holly shook her head, impressed by her best friend's sternness. Term hadn't even started yet.  
She was glad when their tour was over, and she could head back to her friends. Even though Dumbledore had tried to keep most of the information about the happenings at the graveyard and Voldemort's return a secret, judging by some of the student's reaction at her sight, at least some of it must have spread nonetheless.  
Maybe they all thought Cedric's death hadn't been an accident after all and now (just like Holly herself) blamed _her_ for their favourite Hufflepuff's demise.

Without a warning, Hermione pulled her to a halt. Her best friend's big, hazel eyes were right in front of her. Holly frowned, not knowing what had gotten into the other girl.

"Stop this dragon's shit, Holly", she whispered sternly.

All Holly could do was pulling her eyebrows up in question.

"The blaming yourself for something that's not your fault at all! You are _not_ the one who killed Cedric!"

Holly felt tears watering up in her eyes and blinked them away.

"It's not that easy, Hermione.  
You're right, I'm blaming myself for all that happened… Because it _is_ my fault! If only I had done some things differently, maybe that would have prevented any of those events from happening. Voldemort… Cedric…. He was my friend, Hermione."

She bit her lip, single hot tears ran down her face now, she couldn't keep them back any longer.  
At that sight, Hermione pulled her into a comforting hug.

"Listen now, Holly: It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. Get that in your head.  
And please promise me you won't start listening to anything some of those morons back there might think or say about you! You are not to blame for anything and if they can't see that, they are even dumber than I thought."

Holly felt herself smile at those words. Hermione was the smartest person she knew, and it made her feel a little better knowing what her best friend really thought. If Hermione believed in what she just told her, maybe Holly could do that too.  
Hermione loosened the hug and wiped the last of Holly's tears from her cheeks.

"Come on now, Miss Potter, we better get back to our friends now."

Back in the compartment Holly was surprised to see Ron, Ginny and Neville had been joined by Fred and George. There was only one empty seat left next to George and the girls squeezed themselves into it together. It was a tight fit but since both of them were slender enough they could manage somehow. Holly couldn't help her left shoulder from brushing against George's arm every now and then due to their seating arrangements and she felt heat building up in her body, increasing with every touch. She tried to concentrate on her other friends, blending the prickling sensation out.

Ron and Fred were playing a game of wizarding chess, Ron winning quite obviously. Holly often asked herself why someone as clever as Ron did so poorly at school. Of course, he wasn't what people would call a teacher's pet and he didn't really care about any of the subjects or his grades. At least, he had always managed to pass the end of term tests and never came off too badly so far.

Ginny sat next to Neville her eyes bright while listening to some kind of adventure he had gone to with his uncle during summer. The two had been at the yule ball together, as friends, but Holly secretly suspected them to be a little more than that.  
Not that she could blame Ginny, Neville had started to grow into quite a handsome young man. And of course, he had the sweetest personality, always looking out for everyone He'd proved himself to be a good friend to Holly and the other all those years.

Outside, the landscape grew wilder and also greener. They couldn't be far away now. After another 30 minutes or so, the impressing silhouette of the old castle finally pulled into view. At that very moment, they sky grew darker whilst the sun went down behind the Scottish hills of the Highlands. Holly's heart jumped at the sight of it, finally feeling like coming home again.

Fred and George jumped up and hurried back to their compartment to get changed.  
While the train pulled into the platform at Hogsmeade, Ginny and Neville were the first to get out, quickly followed by Ron and Hermione. Holly took hold of her trunk and Hedwig's cage and wanted to get out behind them, but the corridor in front of her compartment was now filled with students, so all she could do was wait for the steady stream of Hogwarts students to get out first.

Finally, the corridor was left a little less crowded and she went out, dragging her trunk behind her when she heard some noise coming from one of the compartments next to her. She slid the door open and there stood one of the twins, still dressed in muggle clothes but she couldn't tell which one, since she only saw the back of his head. He had been the source of the noise, yanking at his trunk that still sat on top of the rack. Apparently, it had gotten stuck somehow and he seemingly couldn't get it down.

"Need some help?" Holly asked in a joking tone.

The twin's head turned around, startled as he hadn't noticed someone coming in, so she could finally see which twin it was: George. He nodded, breathing heavily, signing her to come closer and help him.

"Yeah, please. That stupid piece of trash has gotten itself stuck and I can't move it for an inch. Of course, I was so stupid to leave my wand inside, so there is nothing I can do about it."

He hit his trunk with one fist in anger. His face was a little flushed from the effort of freeing his trunk and Holly weirdly thought it suited him.  
Fumbling into the insides of her robes, she finally pulled out her wand. Without hesitation she pointed it at George's trunk:

"Accio trunk."

With a loud, crunching sound, it sprung free and landed smoothly at her feet on the floor of the compartment. George thanked her over and over again, smiling the biggest, lopsided grin she had ever seen on his face. He quickly opened the trunk's lid and got out his wand and a set of robes. Swiftly, he pulled them over his head on top of the t-shirt and jeans he was wearing.

"Come on now, Holly, we better hurry before everyone starts missing us!"

George touched her side, nodding towards the door. This time, his hand had unintentionally found one of her ticklish spots, and for some reason, the usual tingling felt even stronger because of that.  
Trying to stop the feeling, she straightened her back and went out first, leaving George to follow her.

* * *

Next one will be juicy! ;)  
Stay tuned  
\- A


	12. Thistle Scallop

**Chapter 12** **Thistle Scallop**

After everyone's arrival at Hogwarts the usual banquet started.  
First of all, the new first-years had to be sorted into their houses, the excitement about being at Hogwarts clearly to be seen on their faces.

"They seem to get smaller and smaller every year, I swear!", Ron whispered into her ear while they sat at the Gryffindor table, observing the events at the front of the great hall.  
Professor McGonagall had just brought in the three-legged stool and put the sorting hat on top of it. Most of the eleven-year-olds' faces lit up in expectation, obviously knowing what would happen next, while others peered at it cautiously. Holly smiled, as the hat began to sing, and thought back at the memory of her own sorting.

…

"Holly Elisabeth Potter."

Holly stumbled into the direction of the stool, too nervous to get as much as one single thought straight. She sat down and wiggled anxiously in her seat. Then, everything went black, as Professor McGonagall put the hat onto Holly's head and the thing slid right over her eyes.

Without any warning, a silent, yet clear voice spoke to her, right into both her ears:

"Ah, Miss Potter, I was looking forward to meeting you. It is an honour to finally make your acquaintance, as well as sorting you into your destined house."

She didn't know how to answer, so she kept her silence, waiting for it to continue.

"Very well, now, let me take a look into your head… Ah… right… That's a tough case, indeed…Miss Potter, you put up quite a challenge for me, to be honest. I find several signs and traits in you, belonging to all the different houses.  
Only had that happen once or twice before…  
I see curiosity in your head, brains and the strong want to prove yourself. Creativity, another important trait. And I can see you value individuality… All that would work wonderfully in Ravenclaw.  
Then again, you are brave, I can see everything you had to go through, all the times you were afraid but wouldn't back down, never giving up the fight. That, of course, would be useful in Gryffindor. If I remember correctly, your parents both were Gryffindors themselves.  
Also, I can see ambition within you and determination… As well as just the right amount of cunning. You would do great in Slytherin with things like that.  
Lastly, I see your strong sense of fairness and loyalty. You value kindness and tolerance above many other things… All Hufflepuff traits, of course.  
So, what will I do with you, you seem to fit into each house equally well…"

At that point, the hat went silent. Holly hadn't really listened to it since the mention of her parents. It was the first bit of personal information she had gotten about them, and she couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't concentrate on any other thing.

"Ah, I see", the sorting hat finally stated, a soft giggle in Holly's ear.

"Are you sure you want to be _there_? You could choose any house after all… And don't forget, you will be part of your house for the next seven years, one's house always starts to feel like family…"

Nothing the hat said changed her mind, rather just the opposite in fact.  
It would only be right to find herself "family" within the very same house her _actual_ family had been sorted to.

"Very well then, I will put you into - GRYFFINDOR!"

Holly ripped off the hat and ran over to the Gryffindor table, her face beaming with joy. Everyone had gotten to their feet, clapping their hands, applauding her, as if she had just won some kind of contest. Ron's brothers celebrated her joining them the loudest, especially Fred and George who had gotten on top of the bench and sang loudly:

"We got Potter! We got Potter!"

…

After all the kids had been sorted, Dumbledore got to his feet, his face beaming down to the rows of students. His arms were stretched to his sides in a welcoming gesture. When the buzzing of voices had calmed down a little, he gave his annual start-of-term speech:

"Welcome! Welcome to the first year at Hogwarts for our new pupils and welcome back all the other ones!" His blue eyes twinkled behind the half-moon shaped glasses he wore on his long nose.

"Before we jump right into the delicious meal that awaits us, first some important rules: the forest outside our beautiful castle is forbidden to _all_ pupils, the new as well as the old ones, the only exception to that rule is, of course, in company of a teacher."

Hagrid looked over to Holly at those words, nodding in excitement about this new addition to the rule. Sure enough, he had something planned for one of their Care of Magical Creatures lessons. Holly thought about the things she had met on her earlier trips into the forest and felt a little uncomfortable at the revelation of spending time in there again.

"Also, Mr. Filch has kindly reminded me to tell you, that there are several objects, especially joke-items, such as Fanged Frisbees, Dungbombs or Stink Pellets, that are forbidden to use. The whole list of them will be displayed on the notice-boards in your common rooms for you to check."

Fred and George murmured at those words. Holly was sure they had several new joke products developed over the summer. She hadn't forgotten those secret items George had purchased at Diagon Alley he wouldn't tell her about.

"Since you are bound to be starving, there is only one more thing for today:  
Unfortunately our new teacher for Defence against the Dark Arts seems to have changed their mind, for which reason we lack one member of our faculty. Until we have found someone suitable for the job, some of the other teachers and myself have volunteered to take over your classes."

All pupils in the hall started chatting after this revelation. Dumbledore cleared his throat and all heads turned back in his direction.

"Don't worry, this arrangement will only be temporary, as we will surely find someone very soon. And now… Let the feast begin!"

At his last words, the golden plates in front of them had filled with all kinds of foods and everyone hungrily helped themselves.

Much later that night, Holly found herself awake in bed yet again, after having one of her usual nightmares. Hermione and the other girls in her dorm slept calmly, not noticing her distress. She couldn't go back to sleep, so after having been too tired and full before, Holly got up to have a bath now.

That had been one of the things Daisy had told them about earlier, one of their privileges: they did not have to stay in their common rooms or dorms after curfew but were allowed to move around the castle at any time, day and night. She got out of her bed as quietly as she could, grabbing her dressing gown and wand while leaving the dorm behind.  
The common room downstairs was deserted, only a small fire burning in its fireplace next to the velvety, red armchairs Holly liked to sit in.  
The corridors outside were just the same: no person to be seen. Holly wrapped the silky gown tighter around her body against the chilly air.

Finally, she reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered down on fifth floor. She hadn't been here since before the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, but she remembered behind which door the secret bathroom lay hidden.  
Daisy had given them the current password ("thistle scallop"), so she had no problems opening the door.

She run herself a bath using all her favourite water taps and lit some scented candles, scattering them around the pool. As the sweet fragrance of vanilla, green apples and cinnamon filled the air that surrounded her, the pool had finally filled up to its edge and Holly slipped into the hot water, all tension slowly falling from her body at the sense of the warmth combined with the soothing effect of the soft light and her favourite scents.

When her skin felt hot and sparkling clean, she pulled herself out of the pool and wrapped a soft, minty green towel around her body.  
Next to the brightly coloured window, a tall, full-body mirror displayed the image of herself. Holly didn't look into mirrors often, just while brushing her teeth or whenever she washed her hands after going to the loo, since there were always mirrors hanging above the sinks at Hogwarts.

When she had been younger she'd never liked her appearance and hated how skinny she was. Maybe it had been as a result of being bullied and laughed at in school so much... The only thing she had always thought to be pretty about her, were the sparkling green eyes she'd inherited from her mother.  
Those eyes looked back at her now from the mirror and Holly slowly came closer to look at her reflection. Her face was pale, as always, and slim but Holly didn't think it ugly, like she used to.

She had a small, straight nose nothing too special but just about the right shape in her opinion. Her big, slightly rounded eyes were surrounded by those long, dark lashes that would brush against her cheek whenever she looked down. Above them two slender, yet full eyebrows which she was able to raise separately, something she often liked to do.  
Her lips weren't as full as Holly would like them to be, but she liked their shape, the way the upper lip was just a bit fuller than her lower one.

Her hair had been one of the worst things back in her days before Hogwarts. Aunt Petunia would try to flatten it, brush it a thousand times a day, but it would always do what it wanted, never to be tamed.  
Once, Petunia cut it short thinking it would finally stay smooth, but no such luck. Holly smiled as she remembered herself waking up the morning after, with her hair long again as it had grown back over night.  
Now, when she looked at her reflection, she liked her hair. It still got tangled all the time, but she preferred it that way to it being stick-straight. At the moment, it fell over her pale shoulders just beneath her boobs. The whisky ends of it tickling the smooth skin of them.

The soft towel was still draped over her shoulders and she let it slip down her body now, leaving her completely naked in front of the mirror, exposed to her own eyes.  
Slowly, she let her glance wander, taking in the shape of her whole body.  
Never before had she seen it like this.

Holly was still skinny, but over the last year or so she had developed some feminine curves at least, even though they would never compare to those of other girls she knew.  
Her breasts were small, yet full and perky so she never felt the need to wear a bra, something she was glad about.

Holly watched one of her hands gently touching herself, tracing the shape of her right boob, slowly circling to the very tip of it leaving the tiny, pink nipple hard. A shiver ran down her spine at the touch and goose bumps started to cover her whole body.  
Her hands moved on, tenderly stroking down the side of her small waist, caressing the rounded curve of her hip and the smooth surface of her flat stomach until her fingers brushed against the delicate skin between her slim, yet (due to playing Quidditch) toned thighs.

Gently, her fingers found their destination, the tiny pearl hard between her supple folds, already throbbing from the sensation her own touch could give her. Softly she rolled the small bundle of nerves under her fingers, while her other hand moved up to her boob again, its roundness filling up her palm, pinching the nipple with two fingers.  
Watching her reflection, the things she did, turned her on like nothing else ever had, heat building up in her aroused body and she closed her eyes while her fingers began to move faster.

As her legs started feeling wobbly, she lay down on the bathroom floor on top of her towel, it being the only thing between her hot skin and the cool tiles underneath her.  
The hand between her thighs felt herself getting wet and she gently dipped one finger into her slippery, velvety sleeve. A soft moan escaped her lips as she pushed the finger in and out again, arching her back in pleasure whilst pulling at the fabric of the towel.

Increasing the speed while slipping in another finger, her tight, silky walls already stretched by merely those two fingers, she felt something steadily building up inside her and sat up just in time to watch herself in the mirror for her grand finale. Her thighs opened wide for her to take in everything and she couldn't hold back any longer -  
Her clit exploded beneath her fingers and waves of pleasure rolled over her trembling body. She bit her lip, hard, not to scream out in ecstasy as she came undone.

Worn out, she sank back to the floor again, breathing heavily. The cool tiles of the floor against her flushed skin helped her calm down a little faster than usual.

After some time, she got up from the floor again and went back to bed without a last glance at her reflection.

* * *

Juicy, indeed... ;)  
Stay tuned  
\- A


	13. Toffee Eclairs

**Chapter 13** **Toffee Eclairs**

Next morning was start of term.  
Professor McGonagall handed out their timetables at breakfast and Holly found her first lesson to be a double of Defence against the Dark Arts. Quickly she finished the piece of toast she had been eating and swallowed down the last sip of tea. She couldn't wait to find out who their teacher would be!  
Hermione had already finished breakfast before her and now the two girls waited impatiently for Ron to speed up.

"What's wrong with you, would you please stop watching me eating? It's kind of unsettling to be honest", Ron spoke, taking another piece of toast and some sausages from the pile in front of him.

"Nothing's wrong, dumbo, we just don't want to be the last knowing who will teach us!", Hermione said.

Ron sighed and took a sip of juice:

"Who cares? They won't be teaching us for long anyway. I just hope it won't be Snape or Hagrid… could you imagine him teaching us defensive spells?"

A short laugh tried to escape his throat, but since his mouth was stuffed with food, it couldn't make its way out and Ron nearly choked on it. Holly slapped his back for him.

"Come on, Ron or we'll leave without you", she told him.

Finally breathing again, he rolled his eyes at her and pushed his plate away.

"Fine, I'll come along."

The trio left the great hall and went up to the DADA classroom on third floor.

They weren't the first once to arrive, so the last few rows were already taken. They wanted to sit together and went to the front row the only place three seats were empty next to each other.

Hermione got out her books and quills immediately while Ron just sat on Holly's other side, twisting and twirling his wand between his fingers. He had perfectionated the technique over the past four years and Holly couldn't help but smile, watching him, while he acted ever so casual.

One after the other the rest of their class arrived, only the teacher was nowhere to be seen yet. Holly saw Hermione from the corners of her eye, pushing things around her desk and furrowing her brow, obviously nervous about the late arrival of the teacher. That was typical for her best friend, always worrying about school stuff.

At that moment, the door was opened behind them and in came none other than Albus Dumbledore.  
At his sight, everyone shut their mouth and sat up straight in their seats while the Professor walked up to the teacher's desk. He turned around and smiled at them brightly:

"Welcome to Defence against the Dark Arts. Usually a new teacher would introduce themselves, but I'm afraid I will skip this step." He winked at them. None of them moved.

"Very well", he clapped his hands once.

"I think it best to get right started. Do you have your books?"

Dumbledore waited for the class to respond, some of them nodded or murmured approvingly and Hermione actually took the book into her hand and held it up for Dumbledore to see.

"Good. Put them back into your bags, we won't need them today, or any time soon for that matter."

A collective sigh of relief went through the class, only Hermione looked disappointed at those news.

"Nevertheless, you will need a piece of parchment and quills now."

Dumbledore's beard twitched in amusement while he waited for everyone to get the required things on their desks.

"The first big topic we will get ourselves acquainted with during the next few weeks will be _Defensive_ _Charms_. Any ideas about that? Yes, Miss Granger?"

"A Defensive Charm is a charm cast in order to protect the caster from offensive attacks", Hermione explained quickly.

Dumbledore nodded in her direction:

"Nicely said, take five points for Gryffindor. Can anyone tell me, what that means, apart from Miss Granger I mean."

His eyes looked over the rows of pupils, none dared to meet his piercing glance until he looked into bright green ones.

"Well, I guess it just means what Hermione said: _defensive_ charms always are used in protection, unlike _offensive_ charms that mean to harm others", Holly said matter-of-factly.

"Right you are, Miss Potter, another five points for Gryffindor.  
The most important thing in defending Dark Arts is the protection. You don't have to be a master at dark spells and harmful jinxes yourself as long as you are able to protect yourself. That is why we will start with them. First thing we will work on will be the Shield Charm, ever heard of it?"

Hermione's hand raised into the air as well as Holly's and some others'. Dumbledore pointed at Ernie MacMillian in one of the last rows.

"It will shield you from all Offensive Charms. Its incantation is 'Protecto' or something like that, as in the word _protect_."

"Five points to Hufflepuff, Mr. MacMillian, only the incantation for the simplest of them is a little different, it is actually ' _Protego'_. But you were right about the origin, _protego_ comes from the ancient language of Latin and means 'I cover' or 'I protect'. Please take this and the following information down and then we will jump right into practicing this simplest variation of the Shield Charm."

For some minutes Dumbledore's voice filled the classroom, accompanied only by the sound of scribbling quills on parchment. Finally, everyone lay down their quills and they pushed all tables against the walls, creating enough space for them to pair up and practice the new charm.  
Holly got Parvati as partner but since she had already learned this spell last year while training for the Tournament with Ron and Hermione, Holly only practised it a couple of times, then let Parvati take over for the rest of the lesson, assisting her with the correct hand movement. At the end of the lesson, Parvati and most others had managed to cast an effective Shield in front of them. Parvati hugged Holly in thanks for helping her.

Dumbledore smiled in Holly's direction at that sight and dismissed the class:

"Well done, everyone, that's it for today. Next time we will be able to start with another variation of the Shield Charm, so make sure to read Chapter 1 and 2 from your book as preparation."

As everyone left, Dumbledore strolled over to where the trio were still chatting.

"Miss Potter, I wanted to discuss several important things with you. Would you mind joining me at my office today after dinner?"

Holly certainly didn't mind. Before he walked out the door he turned around once more and called in their direction:

"Nearly forgot to tell you, I like Toffee Eclairs!"

The other lessons that day were just the same as usual. Professor McGonagall used the first half of their lesson to inform them about everything they will have to be able to do in order to pass their OWLs at the end of the year. The other half they tried turning cats into tea cosies, something not even Hermione managed in that short time.

After lunch, they had double-lesson Potions with Holly's _favourite_ Professor…  
Snape of course, like McGonagall, had an incredibly difficult task prepared for them. Again, the first half hour was used with details about the OWLs, then they were expected to prepare a Strengthening Solution.  
At the end of the lesson, Snape ordered them to cork up their potion and bring it to his desk. Holly was quite satisfied with her result, even if it wasn't the exact shade of pale turquoise the Potion's Master had described the ideal colour to be, but rather a light blue.

She felt tired after such a long day but ate some pasta at dinner and spurred up the stairs to the headmaster's office on the 3rd floor.

"Toffee Eclairs", she told the gargoyle in front of the entrance and it jumped out of her way.

Dumbledore already awaited her arrival and he signed fat the chair in front of him for her to sit down.

"Thank you for coming, Holly. As I mentioned earlier, there are certain things I feel you ought to know and other things that need some explanation. Is there anything you would like to ask before I start?"

He smiled at her kindly and Holly just shook her head.

"Very well. First, I would like to thank you for your help at Sirius' trial. I know you think of it as a matter of course, but I really appreciate your, as well as Miss Granger's and Mr. Weasley's, part in unearthing the truth about your godfather.

Next, I would like you to understand, that your new home, Sirius' place, is put under many wards and spells for your protection on top of the security measures I have installed after Sirius offered his home for me to use as headquarters.  
One of those measures is called the _Fidelius Charm_ , an immensely complex spell involving the magical concealment of a secret, like the location of the Black residence, inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, the Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find - unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. I hope you will find it reassuring that I myself am the Secret-Keeper of your home, which means only I can give away the information of its location.  
You might have wondered why Nymphadora showed you that piece of written notice instead of just telling you, but you may understand now, that it had to be me.  
That's also the reason why you couldn't give your address at the trial, not even under the influence of Veritaserum, something I think quite extraordinary."

Holly had followed her headmaster's words attentively and something about this charm rang a bell in her head.

"This… Fidelius Charm… Is it the same spell my parents used when they went into hiding?"

Dumbledore nodded slowly.

"Exactly. Only your parents put their trust in the wrong person as you know.  
Pettigrew was their Secret-Keeper, the only one able to divulge the location of your family's home. Unfortunately, he decided to share this important piece of information with none other than the Dark Lord, thus betraying his friends… If Pettigrew would have kept it a secret as he was supposed to do, Voldemort never would have been able to find you and things might have gone different ways."

Dumbledore waited for the information to sink in.  
Holly was furious, she'd known Pettigrew to be the traitor, the reason for her parents' death, but now knowing all the exact circumstances… It was a lot to take in. She swallowed and blinked away some tears. When she looked up again, Dumbledore looked at her sympathetically.

"The next thing I feel I owe you an explanation about is your new position as Gryffindor's prefect together with Miss Granger.  
I believe Miss Haworth has told you a little about the change of rule? "

Holly agreed, and he continued:

"The true reason why I chose to change it in the first place was actually you, Holly.  
I felt after everything you had to go through over the last years, you had proven yourself more than worthy for such an important task.  
Also, I wanted to let everybody know that I am on your side and that I put my trust in you… As a side effect that might in the long turn help other people recognize the truth about you, Cedric's death and Voldemort eventually.  
But of course, I couldn't deny Miss Granger being prefect either, as she's the personification of everything that is demanded in this position. That's why I decided it was about time to change the tradition of prefects always being one male and one female per house and from now on will be able to choose the most suitable ones, regardless of their gender. We're nearly in the 21st century, after all", he winked at her.

"The next big topic is of course Voldemort himself. Surely you must be curious about his doings and what the Order is up to in return? I must say, I was surprised how little you would ask Sirius and the others at Grimmauldplace. I expected you wouldn't rest until you'd gotten hold of every little bit of information, furious about not being allowed to join… Yet I was told you accepted it without resistance."

Holly had looked at her hands that were folded on her lap and listened without interrupting her professor until now, but she felt the need to explain herself:

"Sir, it's not that I don't care, rather the opposite I assure you, but I didn't want to act like a child, I wanted to show everyone that I could behave myself. I had hoped it might eventually make them see I was mature enough to be involved with the Order and trusted with important information.  
I wanted _you_ to realize I was worthy of participating and didn't want to push anyone and therefore lessen my chances of being allowed to join.  
Also, I wasn't up to my best form in the summer…"

She paused for a split of a second, then carried on:

"You see, everything that happened that night… I feel as if it left a mark on me, that it had changed my personality. I didn't feel like myself most times."

The old wizard gently smiled at her:

"Holly, I understand, I do. And it isn't news to me that you preferred spending time alone quite often or that you had trouble sleeping. Sirius has told me all about it, worrying about you and I will tell you exactly what I told him some weeks ago:  
 _You will get over it._  
At the moment, the feeling of guilt, even though completely unjustified, is omnipresent in your mind and that is only natural. You have seen and done things no human being could simply overcome in a matter of days. It will take time to process these kinds of things until you will be able to return to your normal self again.  
The emptiness you feel now will lessen eventually and you will slowly start overcoming it, coming out stronger than you were before. Trust me with this one, I had my share of pain and guilt to carry over the years and it always got better."

Dumbledore reached over the table and patted her shoulder.

"Actually, the things you feel now are what make you special, Holly, they give you power in the long run... Voldemort would never be able to feel this way, he has no compassion, no conscience. No _love_. _You_ do, be proud of it!"

Holly had to fight back her tears at Dumbledore's wise words. She inhaled deeply and somehow, she already started to feel slightly better. The trust she felt towards the old man on the other side of the desk filled her heart completely.

"Let's move on. Voldemort hasn't officially made his return to the wizarding world, as you may have noticed. He prefers to stay background, acting from behind the scenes until he feels powerful enough to take over. Nobody knows what he's doing at the moment and Voldemort will make sure for it to stay like this. For now.  
Fortunately, we _do_ have the advantage of having a spy in his ranks of followers, who shares every bit of information he can get his hands on with me. Therefore, we know that he is trying to find something he thinks will help him at winning the coming war.  
It is something concerning you, Holly."


	14. Love and Truth

**Chapter 14** **Love and Truth**

Holly sat still in her seat, confused for a second.

"What do mean? I don't… What about me could help… _him_?"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and started explaining everything:

"I have thought about telling you the following thing for a long time. Maybe I should have told you earlier, but I never wanted to unsettle you, you were and still are so very young.  
But I'm afraid things could turn out quite difficult for you without knowing about it…  
Before you were born, a prophecy was made about you. And about Voldemort.  
It predicted a child to be born at the end of July. A child who would have the power to finish the Dark Lord… At least that is the most likely interpretation.  
But come, see and hear for yourself."

He headed over to one of his cupboards and opened the doors. Inside stood the shallow stone basin Holly instantly identified as his Pensieve. Dumbledore lifted it magically up in front of him and it floated all the way to Holly. Slowly it sank down onto the table.

At the same time, Dumbledore had come over as well and now touched the silvery surface of the substance inside the Pensieve and slowly a figure rose from it, the figure of Professor Trelawney. Her eyes were wide open staring into emptiness while she started to turn around herself. In a low, haunting voice she whispered:

" _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equal, but they will have a power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

The figure sank down into the basin again, leaving behind only an uncomfortable sound of silence.

Dumbledore sat down again, sighing:

"You see, Holly? Voldemort tried to kill you because of this prophecy when you very merely a child. He knew of this prediction, though he did not know its full contents. He thought by killing you while you were still a baby he would fulfil the prophecy. But he didn't know the part about you having a power he doesn't, nor about the importance of him marking you as equal. He had to discover, to his cost, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you backfired and nearly finished himself.  
Now that he has returned to his body he strives to hear the full prophecy, determined to find out how to destroy you. He fears your power, Holly."

Holly shook her head, trying to understand the meaning of everything she had just learned.

"But… I don't have any power that he doesn't. I'm only 15, still learning simplest spells and techniques of defence while he is the most powerful dark wizard ever. How am I supposed to stand a chance against…"

She stopped midsentence, she had only just realized something.

"What was that last part again? Something like 'neither can live…'?"

"…while the other survives. And either must die at the hand of the other", Dumbledore stated dryly.

"So… One of us will have to kill the other one? There is no other way of ending him? It _has to be_ _me_?"

The old wizard slightly nodded his head once.  
Holly couldn't wrap her mind around all that information. It was just too much.

"That's impossible. It can't be! How am I supposed to survive fighting him?! I have no power at all compared to Voldemort. I won't stand a chance… I won't be the one to survive, I will die, failing to fight him. He will kill me!"

Holly was angry. Why did her life always have to be such a mess? Why couldn't she just be a normal girl, lead a normal life, like her friends?  
There was always something "special" about her, something odd. She didn't want any of this no longer.

"Holly" she heard Dumbledore's soft voice speaking sympathetically.

"You will not die. I won't let that happen.  
You might not have the kind of power Voldemort has, but you have something much more important, a power he really does not know, something he never took seriously. The very thing that nearly finished him off at your first encounter 14 years ago."

"My mother _died_ to safe me, that's what finished him off!  
Not my power. _She_ shielded me from him and it was her death that made the course backfire against Voldemort, not me!"

Holly nearly screamed at the old man in front of her. Why didn't he see? How could he stay so calm while she felt herself getting angrier by the minute?

"Your mother died to safe you, you are right.  
Her sacrifice created a shield, a protection Voldemort doesn't understand. It is a very old branch of magic few people even know about. She died out of love, Holly. Her _love_ for you was stronger than Voldemort. Even now years after her death her blood still lives, it runs through your body, protecting you."

Holly snorted.

"Yeah, I knew that part already. But Voldemort used my blood for his resurrection, remember? I no longer am protected by my mother's sacrifice.  
It all was for nothing."

"Yes, I remember. Voldemort might be able to touch you now, but you are still under your mother's protection. It's not only about blood, Holly. It's her love.  
Voldemort knows nothing about the power of love. That's what nearly finished him off before, Holly, and it will the thing that will end his power when you face him."

She sat silently, she had no words left to speak. After several minutes of silence, Dumbledore spoke again:

"I see, you will need some time to process all that information.  
But I assure you, Holly, you will not die at Voldemort' hands, not as long as I am around. And I will help you find your power, Holly. I will do anything in my might to help you at winning.  
For the moment you are safe. Voldemort is seeking to get this prophecy, but there is no chance of him gaining this piece of information since the only two people knowing the prophecy's full content are sitting in this very room. There is only one other record and I guarantee you it is well protected at all times.

"If you feel able to gain some more information, I would like to move on., but if you'd rather leave now I will not force you to stay."

At that time, Holly had calmed down a bit again, so she stayed in her seat.

"Very well. There is one other thing I'm afraid Voldemort might be involved with and that is the sudden disappearance of the person who was supposed to be our new teacher of Defence against the Dark Arts, Mrs. Amelia Bones.  
She was prepared to take on this position and seemed to be looking forward to it the last time I saw her. Then, some weeks ago, she went missing without a note left and hasn't been seen ever since. Her family of course is devastated.  
There are no signs of her being taken against her will, but the circumstances are very odd. It is my belief, she might have been captured by Death Eaters, since she had been working at the Ministry for a long time before she accepted this position at Hogwarts. Maybe Voldemort tries to get some kind of information out of her… It's the only plausible explanation to me. You actually knew her, well, saw her once at least, at Sirius' trial. The woman with the monocle."

Holly remembered the witch. She hadn't been old, maybe in her mid-40s. Then, another memory popped up in her head, and Holly's face turned even paler than it already was, her mouth dropped open in shock.

"Holly? What is it? I didn't think you knew…"

"I know what happened to her", she heard herself talk in a weird monotonous way.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean? There were no signs left…"

"I saw her. I didn't recognize her at the time, she was so badly injured, her face bruised and swollen, but I always knew I had seen her before, I just couldn't put it together until now…"

"What do you mean, you saw her? How is this possible, no one has seen her for several weeks!"

Holly inhaled deeply, coming back to her senses and began to tell him everything about her dream. Only that it hadn't been a dream and she told him that as well.  
After she finished they both sat there, not saying a word for a while. Dumbledore's face seemed concentrated, his forehead furrowed while he tried to understand everything.

"You say it was like a nightmare, right? Only different than usual?  
You saw all of that happen whilst sleeping?"

Holly nodded.

"And you saw it from which perspective? From above, the side, ...?"

Holly hesitated before answering:

"I saw it as if I were Voldemort. As if I were the one torturing and killing her."

"That's what I thought", Dumbledore whispered.

Then, suddenly, he jumped to his feet and went around his office, talking to himself.

"Poor Mrs. Bones… Of course, I can't let anyone know about it, there is already too much unfavourable talk about you without this new revelation of your being able to see into Voldemort's head… Since she's dead there is nothing to be done about it anyway… Sure, if she were still alive things would be different… The only thing left to do now -"

Without warning he stopped in his movement, turning back at Holly.

"There is only one important thing for us to think about, Holly.  
If you were able to see into Voldemort's head… There might be a chance of him being able to do the same to you.  
We must protect you at all means. You must learn to shield your mind against him for the possibility that he finds out about this connection. You have to learn Occlumency and I will teach you myself."

It had been a long day for Holly.  
After all the information about the prophecy and the talk about Voldemort's doings and her nightmares Dumbledore had told her everything about this technique, Occlumency. Then, they had even started working on it and after her mind had been penetrated and attacked several times, finally the headmaster dismissed her, but not withount handing her a book she should read until their next Occlumency lesson, which would be in three days.  
Dumbledore had insisted they needed to train at least twice a week until she was able to close her mind and protect it from Legilimency.

Holly passed a window and looked outside at the stunning view of Hogwarts' surroundings.  
The silvery silhouette of the nearly full moon hung amidst billions of bright stars, sparkling against the black night. Beneath the cloudless sky the Great Lake lay smooth like the surface of dark glass, like a mirror reflecting the stars above. It had to be nearly midnight, Holly thought.

Her brain felt terribly tired, worn out from everything it had to process today and she fell into her bed, not bothering to change into her pyjamas, only stripping off the heavy robes before drifting off into a sleep immediately, something she hadn't done in a long time.

* * *

Look forward to the next chapter, I think you're gonna like it... ;)  
Stay tuned  
\- A


	15. Burning Desire

**Chapter 15** **Burning Desire**

It was still night when Holly sat up in her bed. Something outside her window had awoken her and she went over to have a look at what it was.  
Down on the grounds, next to her favourite tree at the lake, she spotted some kind of light. From the distance she couldn't tell what it was, so she decided to go down and check it out. Once again, she found herself slipping into her dressing gown and out into the deserted and chilly corridors of the castle.

When she arrived down in the Entrance Hall, she went over to the front door. To her surprise, she found it hadn't been locked this evening at curfew and she could sneak off into the welcoming darkness of the night without anything holding her back.  
As she came closer to the Great Lake, she spotted this strange light again. It felt as if it called out to her, a strong attraction pulling her closer and she couldn't keep away. Quickly, she strolled over the slippery grass beneath her feet in its direction.

The closer she came, the stronger it pulled her in. When she finally was near enough to find out what it was, the light suddenly disappeared, leaving her behind in complete darkness.

It took her several moments adjust to the blackness surrounding her and she felt a little uncomfortable. After all, she couldn't see anything around her, except for the silvery moon above her. Yes, she felt uncomfortable, but strangely there was no fear creeping up her back as she would have expected in such a situation.

The only other emotion she felt was disappointment. She had been so curious about this mysterious light and now felt the frustration about not being able to find out what it had been.  
So, even though she had every reason to feel frightened as she stood there, she simply wasn't.  
Holly couldn't explain herself, but the sudden disappearance of this strange light had not unsettled her. It had even felt right at that moment, as if she had expected that to happen, as if the light was supposed to do exactly that.

By this time, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she took in the beauty of the stunning view in front of her. She had always loved the landscape around Hogwarts, the roughness of the Scottish Highlands held an ever so magical appeal in her opinion.  
She heard herself sigh happily, at ease with the setting, not thinking about the strange light from earlier anymore.

All of a sudden, someone gently grabbed her shoulders from behind and even though it took her by surprise, she felt no need to scream.  
Only her body stiffened a little at the shock of being touched without warning. She felt herself unable to turn around to see who stood behind her, so she stayed in her position, waiting for the mysterious person to reveal themselves.

The hands at her shoulders went down the sides of her arms, tenderly, leaving a trail of goose bumps on their way down.  
Whoever this person was, she was sure they meant no harm. She didn't know how she could be so sure of that, it simply was a given.

Soft fingertips moved up and down her arms, tracing patterns onto her skin and she felt the well-known tingling sensation spreading through her body once again accompanied by a shiver running down her spine.  
Finally, the hands slipped over her palms and their fingers interlaced with the other's.

The person had moved closer, up against her back now and Holly felt their warmth against her, such a nice contrast to the cold of the night's air.  
She leaned back against him, comfortable against his broad chest. She still didn't recognize this man, but she was sure she knew him. His strong arms moved around her, their fingers still entwined so she found herself embraced by this mysterious person as well as by her own arms.

Holly knew she should be afraid, not knowing the person holding onto her after all, but she couldn't help but feel anything other than safe at this moment.  
She enjoyed the feeling of his body pressed against her backside, his head laying on top of hers. He must be quite tall. And strong. She could feel the muscles of his heaving chest as well as those of the embracing arms around her, holding her in such a caring way.

She never wanted this moment to end and felt all tension fall from her body as she leaned further into him, her head resting back against his shoulder.  
His heart beat a steady rhythm under her ear.

He whispered her name into her hair, his hot breath tickling the skin of her parting and Holly felt as though she recognized his voice and for only the split of a second she thought she knew who he was.  
Just when she wanted to turn in his arms to face him, everything around her vanished into thin air.

Holly woke up, breathing calmly, yet tears filled her eyes.

She couldn't explain why, for fuck's sake, she couldn't even remember the dream she must have had, even though she did her best at trying to recall some of its contents. But the more she tried to grasp it, the more it dissolved leaving nothing behind but a strong sensation of safety and this exciting tingling feeling inside her belly, as well as a faint smell of cinnamon in her nose. Other than that, everything had vanished.  
Slowly, those soothing feelings lessened, and she was left behind in the darkness, empty and lonely once again.

The rest of her first week back at Hogwarts passed by quickly. Holly spent a second evening in Dumbledore's company, trying her best to master the art of Occlumency, but it turned out to be very hard to learn, thus she hadn't made any progress so far.

Finally, the week-end arrived and with it, at last, Quidditch practice.  
Angelina Johnson had been made new Quidditch captain since Oliver Wood had graduated and left school last year, and they now lacked a Keeper.  
Therefore the first thing on their agenda was to find a new one. Angie had booked the Quidditch pitch for five hours right after breakfast on Saturday, so there would be enough time for Keeper trials as well as a first practice as soon as the team would be complete again.

Ron had shared with Holly during the holidays that he wanted to try out for Keeper and Holly thought it to be an excellent idea. Having her best mate in her team would make Quidditch even more fun, after all.  
They went down together to the pitch right after breakfast and Ron was a little paler than usual, yet otherwise didn't seem to be too nervous.

"I can do it! I always played as Keeper with my brothers over the years, that has to be good for something!" He joked, more to calm his nerves than entertain Holly, she thought.

"Yeah, Ron, you will do great. I've played with you before, remember?"

Holly patted her best mate's shoulder and left him on the pitch with the others who had showed up for the try-out. She herself went to the Gryffindor's changing room where her Angie and Katie Bell were already waiting, chatting. Holly changed into her Quidditch robes and sat down on the bench, waiting for the others to arrive.

One after the other, Alicia Spinnet and Fred and George came into the room. They already wore their robes, so Angelina could get started:

"Hi everyone. I have several things planned for us this year, including new tactics and moves that will hopefully get us to our goal, _my_ _goal_ , to win the Quidditch Cup at the end of the year. It's my only chance at winning the Cup as captain, being it my last year at Hogwarts. Take this warning: I will _not_ tolerate any trouble making from you guys, even though I value each of you as Quidditch player as well as friend.  
Now, let's get started and find us a new Keeper! Come on, out onto the pitch!"

Holly and the rest of them got up, a little speechless after Angie's speech, and followed their captain outside.

After some warming up, Angie started the trials.  
Everyone trying out for Keeper got their turn at guarding the hooped goalposts while the rest of the team flew around, passing the Quaffle between them, trying their best to score. Every Keeper got five chances to hold off attacks before it would be another's turn.

Most of the try-outs were horrifying, not comparable to Oliver's ability and Holly started doubting they would find anyone good enough to take his place.  
Some played alright though and then, finally it was Ron's turn.

He flew over to the goalposts and rotated in front of them, focusing completely on the Quaffle.  
When Katie threw the Quaffle at the goals, he saved it effortlessly. Then Alicia tried as second, again the Quaffle didn't find its destination. The same with the third and fourth ones, even though Holly and George did their best to score.  
Lastly, it was Fred's turn. He flew into Ron's direction, clearly aiming for the highest goal, so Ron drifted up to protect it. Just at that moment, Fred changed his target, now aiming at the lowest one, before letting the Quaffle leave his hand. Ron reacted instantly, dropping down and nearly slipped off his broom as he kicked the red ball far away.

Holly broke out into cheering, and flew over to her best friend, hugging him tightly. Fred, George and the rest of the team followed her, congratulating him and welcoming him to the Gryffindor Quidditch team.  
Ron smiled goofily, he couldn't believe he'd done it. He had clearly been the best of all wannabe Keepers today and now everyone knew he was able to live up to his brothers' standards.

After Angie told all the other try-outs that she was sorry, but Ron had beaten them, the whole team started their normal Quidditch training.  
It felt good to be on the pitch again and Holly was so happy to be flying again, the liberty she felt while spiralling through the air, leaving the floor far behind and her worries with it. She loved the sensation of wind blowing into her face and through her hair. And she simply lived for playing Quidditch, spending time with her friends, searching for the Snitch… But the best always was the way she felt after some hours of good training, when all her muscles were worn out and tired from her effort and the exercise.

When they were done training, everyone went back into the changing room wearing tired, yet satisfied smiles on their faces. Holly's feet felt wobbly after the hours of flying, especially since she hadn't trained much during the summer. She knew she would have sore muscles tomorrow, but it felt good to her nonetheless.  
Everyone stripped off their Quidditch robes and went towards the bathrooms to take a shower before heading back into the castle for dinner. She looked forward to that now, particularly since they had skipped lunch for the sake of Quidditch.  
Most of the others were already taking their showers and Holly was one of the last ones left in the changing room when someone spoke to her:

"Ron did really well, don't you think? I'm honestly impressed."

It had been George's voice, coming from behind her so she turned around, regretting it immediately.

He had in the very same moment taken off his robes and revealed now his naked torso. Apparently, he had only worn some dark trousers underneath the robes, not sportswear as Quidditch players normally would.  
Holly inhaled briefly and took this sight in for a moment, her eyes quickly wandering over the shape of his broad shoulders, his muscular chest and defined stomach.  
She was so distracted by George's body, she couldn't remember what he had said to her.

"Pardon?", she whispered and finally looked back up into his face. Big mistake.

Her eyes were met with cheekily sparkling blue ones and he even gave her one of those crooked smiles she couldn't stop thinking about.

Holly felt her face slowly burning up and quickly turned away for him not to notice.  
It was too embarrassing! What the fuck was wrong with her? Hadn't she seen the twins change clothes by her side at least a hundred times over the years?

"I said", he chuckled "Ron did great today."

"Yeah, totally. I'm so glad he made it into the team."

Her voice sounded distracted, even to her own ears.

She caught herself wondering what his skin would feel like beneath her touch and what he would smell like now, after the training…  
Holly, stop it, immediately!

Whilst arguing with her stupid self, her long hair had gotten itself tangled up in her robes and she found herself unable to remove them. Holly tried to free her hair, but because she couldn't really see what her hands were doing, it turned out to be quite hard.

"Damn it! Stupid tangled hair!" Holly cursed under her breath.

"Come, let me help you"

Suddenly George's fingers took over and fumbled in her hair, slowly working their way through the tangles and releasing one strand of hair after the other. All she could think about was the close proximity between her and the half-naked body behind her.  
Her fingers tingled with the longing of reaching back, touching him and she felt her heartbeat quicken. It took all her concentration to keep herself from giving in to the desire to lean back against George's chest. Her body screamed at her, demanding her to touch him, feel his naked skin, the muscles underneath it… craving his touch at the same time, longing for him to hold her, embrace her, do _anything_ to her…

Finally, the last strand of hair was freed, and Holly turned around to thank him for his help.  
George looked at her expectantly, his eyes twinkling with sheer irrepressible mischief.  
He was so close… They hadn't been this close since the night at Grimmauldplace Holly had tried not to think about.

She felt herself unintentionally stepping a little closer, nearly touching him now.  
The small space between them was filled with electricity, Holly's whole body was tingling with longing.  
Slowly, George raised one hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. Her skin burned at his contact, his touch only fuelling the ever-growing desire in her body.  
Holly felt her breath coming in gasps and could hear George's quicken as well, his hot breath tickling her forehead at every exhale.  
His eyes, she could see now, were not just this stunning shade of light blue. The edges of the iris actually were midnight blue and there were tiny spots of green in them as well. His pupils had darkened as she had moved closer.

Holly didn't know how much time had passed as they stood there, just looking into the other's eyes… He still seemed to be waiting for her to move but she didn't remember how, all she could was stare at him, those breathtaking eyes, the sprinkle of freckles on his slightly too long nose, the inviting curve of his lips... Unsure of what to do next, confused by the situation, her body's reaction to his proximity and mostly irritated by his behaviour, she absentmindedly bit her lip.

That movement was what got George out of this trance-like state and he finally moved in, slowly, cupping her face gently with both hands.  
Holly's stomach flipped, her whole body burned, and she moved in as well. Her fingers could no longer be held back, finally touching his hot skin, gliding over the smooth surface of his muscular stomach and chest, lastly resting at his shoulders.  
She closed her eyes, waiting for their lips to meet, her body ready to explode.  
The tips of their noses tenderly brushed, his breath mingling with hers, hot against her expecting lips and –

"Hey, Georgie, what's taking you so long?" Fred's voice shouted as he came from the bathroom and slowly around the corner, a towel wrapped around his hips.

At the sound of Fred's call, Holly and George jumped apart, just before their lips had the chance to touch the others'.

* * *

Damn it, they were so close this time! Poor Holly and George :/  
Next chapter will be written out of someone else's perspective, any guess whose?  
Stay tuned,  
\- A


	16. George Weasley

Hello everyone :)  
This chapter is written from someone else's point of view and not Holly's like usual...  
Have fun!  
\- A

* * *

 **Chapter 16** **George Weasley**

Holly hurried to take her shower, leaving George behind with his twin, Fred.  
George sighed in frustration as he watched her disappear into the girl's bathroom, her dark hair falling over her back, waving as she moved away from him, waving good-bye.

His brother grinned in his direction now, eyebrows raised so high they nearly touched his hairline. Fred was obviously more than a little confused about what he just walked in on, even though he couldn't have seen anything happen, thank Merlin.

After all, nothing _had_ happened, George thought disappointedly.  
He just shook his head at Fred, silently begging him not to ask and went to have a shower himself, just as all the others came back from the bathrooms.  
As the hot water ran down his body, the stinging sensation of disappointment overrun his body more and more. If Fred hadn't disturbed them, he finally would have kissed Holly, felt her lips on his after weeks of dreaming about them, about her…  
Why did his brother have to come in at the very moment this longing would be satisfied?

"Damn you, Fred." he whispered through his gritted teeth.

But it hadn't been Fred's fault, not really.  
Yes, his brother had chosen the most inconvenient moment to stroll back into the changing room, but there had been several minutes before that in which George could have acted.  
He couldn't help getting angry at himself.

He had blown his chance with Holly, probably the only one he would ever get.  
He might have finally been able to kiss her, after all this time yearning for her touch, but he had taken too long, letting this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip through his fingers…  
Just because he had been insecure if it was what she wanted too. Just because he wanted to leave her a choice. He wanted to give her enough time to decide for herself, to back away, reject him.

Yet, she hadn't. A content smile crept back to his face.

Yeah, he'd given her a chance to decide for herself and she had obviously chosen to stay. Heck, the way she had touched him…  
A shiver ran down his body at the memory of her small hands' touch upon his body. She seemed to want this kiss just as much as him.  
Didn't she?

George sighed and rolled his head back to wash his hair.  
If only he had moved earlier, grabbed her around the waist and kissed her like he had imagined doing a hundred times. Had he just been a minute earlier, his dreams might have turned into reality:  
Holly touching him, wanting him as much as he wanted her while he held her close to him, her slim figure so fragile in his hands as he finally kissed her, deeply, showing her how much he treasured her, how much she meant to him.  
Blimey, he couldn't help but wonder what her sweet lips would have tasted like, how they would feel against his own, her soft sigh as she opened her mouth for their tongues to dance with one another.  
He pictured his hands moving down her body, stroking the sides of her arms, shortly resting at her tiny waist before slipping past her hips and finally cupping that perfectly round ass of hers… All the while her hands moved over his skin, up to the back of his head, fingers entwined into his hair and pulling him even closer against her stunning body, her perfect breasts pressed against his chest…  
He imagined his skin tingling at her touch the way it had earlier, her fingers leaving patterns of burning fire on it. And then, the sound of her moaning in lust and his name coming from her mouth as her desire for him was just as strong as his longing for her-

His manhood had started to wake again at these thoughts, the images of Holly in his mind making him bigger and harder by the second and George forced himself to think about something else. After all, there were more suitable places he could think of to give himself the (obviously much needed) release than the communal showers of the Quidditch bathrooms.  
Also, Fred was probably still waiting outside, dying to ask him all about that moment earlier.

George sighed and turned off the shower, stepping onto the cool white tiles of the floor and patted himself dry with one of the towels while thinking of what to tell his brother.  
He loved Fred, with all his heart, and he loved how close they were, sharing every thought, always knowing everything about the other. But in situations like this he'd rather not have to explain everything.  
What would Fred think about this new revelation of him liking Holly the way he did? Surely, he would think it unwise, after all, she was their youngest brother's best friend and therefore out of reach, not to be touched. Even though Ron and her had only ever been friends.  
And of course, hadn't she become nearly like a sister to them over the past years? Surely it wasn't deemed natural to think about her the way he did…

George sighed once more while wrapping the towel around his hips and worked up the courage to face his brother outside.

Holly and all the others had already left for dinner, so he and Fred were all alone.  
George changed into a fresh pair of black jeans (the colour reminding him of Holly's hair) and pulled one of his Gryffindor jumpers over his head while Fred just sat next to him, waiting for him to start speaking.  
Since that wouldn't happen, Fred finally said:

"So?"

His brother grinned at him again, just like he had before.

"What 'So'?'"

George tried his best to act as if nothing had happened.  
Something Fred didn't seem to accept.

"Come on, Georgie, you know just exactly what I mean!"

George raised a single eyebrow, still refusing to give in.

"What was up with you two when I came back from the showers?"

George startled. He had thought Fred hadn't seen them since they jumped apart before he had turned around the corner.

"Why? What did you see?" George nearly flew into his brother's face.

Fred held up his hands between them.

"Calm down, stupid, I didn't see anything. I just came back into this room and the two of you stood over there, acting all awkward and Holly ran to the bathroom with a burning red face. So, even though I did _not_ _see_ anything, dear brother, I think I know something was going on between the two of you. Did you kiss her?"

George sighed in frustration, probably for the hundredth time that day and shook his head.

"No Fred, we didn't _kiss_."

"But?"

Fred didn't give up this easily and George darted a warning glance at his twin.

"But?" Fred repeated. "Come on now, just spill it already. There is nothing you can tell me that will shock me or even _surprise_ me as it is.  
You two are just so obvious, don't you know?  
I've expected for some weeks now that something might happen between you and her."

Fred might not be surprised, but George definitely was.  
He hadn't known it had been obvious to anyone and now was afraid about how many people had noticed his behaviour.

"That obvious?" he silently asked.

Fred nodded.

"Yeah, it's like I can feel the tension between the two of you… The closer you are, the stronger it gets. And then of course, I sometimes catch you looking her way, watching her every move… Do you… love her?"

George shrugged his shoulders at that question, he really didn't know. He also tried not to think about it too much, since his chances with Holly were nonexistent.

"I like her… _A lot_. But I'm not sure you can speak of love yet, I don't even know how she feels towards me, if she returns any of these stupid things I feel for her."

Fred laughed at him at these words.

"Yeah, right, I forgot for a moment just how _blind_ you are!  
Georgie, dear brother, Holly is _clearly_ into you. I saw her face today as she stormed off and whatever happened between you before I entered the room, she liked it well enough, trust me."

Fred patted his shoulder and stood up.

"Now, let's have some dinner, my stomach's going to start digesting itself if it won't get some food soon."

At their way up to the castle, George felt slightly better.  
He actually was glad his twin knew about everything and the things he'd told him brightened his mood.  
The tension between him and Holly had even been obvious to Fred, therefore something must actually be there, existing not only in George's mind.  
And Fred even thought Holly liked what had happened today…  
George wanted to believe it and tried to trust his brother. After all, Fred did have some more experience with women than him, since he had been dating Angelina for a few months after the yule ball.  
Not that George had no experience at all, but he had never been in a relationship so far and only ever kissed a few meaningless girls over the last few years, including, two years ago, Elaine Bourgan, who had at that time been one of the most popular and prettiest girls at school.  
And yet, she wouldn't even come close to Holly's beauty, George thought.

The next few days Holly seemed to avoid him at all means.  
Whenever he entered the Gryffindor common room, she would make up some excuse to go early to bed for being tired or having to look something up at the library.  
At every meal she sat as far away from him as possible without drawing attention to her behaviour. That wasn't an easy task since she always sat next to Hermione and _Ron_ , who usually liked to sit near his brothers. Therefore, she was forced to sit within merely some feet of George, the closest she could tolerate.  
When they randomly met in a corridor, she would turn around as soon as she spotted him and walk off into the opposite direction.

The closest George got to Holly during that following week was when they accidentally bumped into each other while climbing though the portrait hole of the Fat Lady. They both stumbled at the impact and nearly fell over. George caught their fall and let his hands linger at her shoulders for just one moment too long. Holly stared into his eyes in a way George couldn't understand, and he let go of her immediately. She turned around without a word and left him standing there, speechless.

George noticed his twin watching him several times during that week, obviously concerned about how things were between him and Holly, but Fred never said a word about anything George had told him, and he deeply appreciated that.  
For now, he had to figure out things for himself.

He knew of course why Holly behaved like that, but it hurt nonetheless.  
After his talk with Fred he had really hoped she would give him another chance, but maybe she had changed her mind after their nearly-kiss on the weekend.

Maybe she had given it some thought and was glad Fred had interrupted them.  
Maybe he had misinterpreted her actions that day and she never wanted to kiss him in the first place.  
Maybe he was really just a fucking dumbass to think she would feel the same about him as he did about her.

No matter the reason for her behaviour, he couldn't go on like this, it hurt too much.  
He had to speak with her, at least to clear all of this mess he had created.  
He only had to figure out what it would take for her to talk to him again, so he started working out a plan.


	17. A Branch of Holly

**Chapter 17** **A Branch of Holly**

Holly did her best to avoid George after that… moment in the changing rooms last Saturday. She did everything to keep her mind distracted, not to think too much about what had nearly happened . Or at all for that matter.  
She noticed Hermione looking at her in a strange way several times but decided not to share her thoughts and feelings with anyone, not even her best friends.  
If she acted like it didn't happen, maybe everything would go back to normal. Shouldn't it be easy to do that, since nothing had happened after all? She hadn't kissed George, so why did she feel the need to hide it?

Holly kept her mind occupied with anything, often finding herself studying with Hermione. Sometimes she actually went to the library just by her own, only because she felt the need to get away from George.

George… He seemed to be everywhere she went these days.  
Never before had she noticed him being all around her like he was now, even though he always had been there just the same. The only thing that had changed was the way she felt about his proximity. Holly wouldn't have believed it before, but the tension between them had grown stronger after whatever _nearly_ had happened.

Of course, being Ron's best mate didn't really help her case, as his brothers were often around him, especially at the meals.  
Or in the common room.  
Or just like, always.

The only good thing about her situation were her grades. She excelled at every homework or assignment they had been given that week so far.  
Not even Snape had anything to fuss about for once.

Of course, Holly had always had a certain talent for Potions, something Remus had told her she had inherited from her mother. But until this week, she had never had much interest for it, since she couldn't stand the subject's Professor. Now however, she actually prepared herself before his lessons and was able to brew excellent Potions.

Ron was impressed with her sudden change and promptly used it for his advantage, asking her to help him with his Potions nearly every lesson and jokingly calling her "Potion-Princess" whenever she saved him from ruining his potion.

Hermione on the other hand, even though she would never admit it, felt a little jealous, for she wasn't the best Potion's student of their class any longer.  
Yet, she couldn't help and also be impressed whenever Holly did something that wouldn't be in the recipe, like add in a special ingredient or reduce the temperature the Potions were supposed to boil at. She would never dare to interfere with a book's directions, she would be too frightened about the possible outcome.  
Holly apparently was a little more innovative than her and she could live with that, as Holly was her best friend after all and she was proud of her development.

Nevertheless, Hermione knew something was off about Holly, she had sensed her friend's distress since after the Quidditch practice last Saturday. She often wanted to ask her best friend about it but knew better than to act on this want. Holly didn't seem to want her to interfere with whatever it was that concerned her.

Yet Holly was so off, even Ron was bound to notice after a while and unfortunately, he wasn't as cautious about it as Hermione.  
While they sat next to the fireplace in their common room on Thursday evening, doing some homework, out of nowhere he just asked her what the fuck was wrong.  
First, she didn't respond in any way apart from staring at him, seemingly shocked.  
She really hadn't expected _Ron_ to have sensed her feelings.

"Come on, Holly, just spill it. Is it… is it that I've made it to the Quidditch team? Are you not happy that we'll play together?  
Because ever since after the practice you are acting so weirdly…"

The way he looked at her she could see he really was afraid she didn't want him on her team. His vulnerability so clearly for her to see in those blue eyes… Eyes so very similar to his brother George's…  
She nearly couldn't keep her secret, she felt as if she would burst any moment and it took all her concentration not to share her feelings with her best friends right then.  
Instead, she swallowed down those uprising feelings and just shook her head at him. She actually couldn't believe he had come to _that_ conclusion…

"No, Ron, of course not! I'm more than happy you will play by my side from now on, especially when we have to face those stupid Slytherins in a few weeks.  
It's just… I don't know, I can't explain it, I'm afraid.  
But it really isn't your or Hermione's fault, I swear. It only concerns me, so don't worry, it has nothing to do with the two of you!"

She leaned forward to pat his hand and smiled at him and Ron returned the smile, obviously a little calmed down.

"Well, then what ever it is, Holly, if you find out you'll need my help with it, I'll be there for you. And Hermione surely would love to help as well."

The bushy haired girl sitting next to them, silently following their conversation until now, nodded enthusiastically at her name's mention.

"Thanks, guys." Holly smirked.

She felt her friends' comfort and love and it nearly was too much for her to handle, not in the state she was in since Saturday. Feelings overrun her body and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold back tears any longer. So, she quickly murmured something about having to return a certain book to the library and swiftly got up, leaving her friends by the fire.

Holly opened the portrait and wanted to climb through the dark hole, when she bumped into another person. Their impact made them both stumble and they nearly tripped over. Only the other person's quick reaction caught their fall.

Holly hadn't seen his face until now, but even without seeing him she instantly knew who it was. Only one person made her skin tingle that way and the air around her fill with that intense electricity. Only one person could unsettle her with their touch.  
George let his hands linger at her shoulders for a moment longer than necessary.  
She had been too shocked about their encounter to react in any way, she simply looked up at him into those stunning eyes.

Her emotions had been creeping up at her ever since her conversation with Ron, but now she felt them taking over, she couldn't keep them under control anymore.  
Holly closed her eyes for a second, breaking their eye-contact and promptly turned away from him, nearly running down the corridor to get as much distance as possible between them.  
When she had turned around the corner she slipped into an empty classroom and finally gave in to her emotions, hot tear drops running down her cheeks while she leaned against the closed door.

* * *

Then, the week-end arrived again and with it another Quidditch practice.

Holly really didn't look forward to it, since it meant spending time in close proximity to and with George. And worse, seeing him in that fucking changing room again.  
But on the other hand, she simply loved playing Quidditch and wouldn't miss the chance to try some those flying techniques she wanted to train.  
Also, a part of her hoped things would just return to normality between her and George if they went back to the very place they nearly kissed, last week.  
Maybe they could overcome the tension between them if they just acted as if all that had never happened.

So, just after lunch, Ron and her shouldered their brooms and went down to play some Quidditch. Holly had purposely taken her time eating, so they were the last ones to arrive in the changing room. The others sat on the benches along the walls, already dressed in their scarlet Quidditch robes. The two friends quickly pulled their own robes over their heads and sat down as well.

Holly had tried to keep her glance from George's direction but failed.  
To her surprise, he wasn't looking at her at all and instead was chatting with Alicia who sat next to him, making her giggle at some joke he must have told her.  
Seeing him ignoring _her_ bothered her even more than her failing at ignoring _him_.

Confused, disappointed and once again angry at herself for being that fucking stupid and not able to control her emotions, she sat down next to Ron, as far away from George as possible.

Angelina had several new tactics prepared for them to learn and they listened to her explanations about every one of them. Holly had a hard time following her, as she was still too upset with herself and was surprised when suddenly everyone but her stood up to their feet. Obviously, she'd missed Angie's finishing words and now hurried to walk out onto the pitch after the others.

On the green grass of the pitch, they started with some warm-up as usual. They ran some rounds around the edges of the field and stretched out their limbs. Then, they got on their brooms and passed the Quaffle between them for some minutes to get their arms warmed up as well. Holly avoided passing the Quaffle to George and he seemed to do the same. Why had he suddenly stopped reaching out to her? What had changed for him? Why would he be so…distant?

Stop it, Potter! She told herself. Wasn't it better that way? They would both keep their distance until they felt comfortable with each other again.  
Even though it made all sense in her head, George's behaviour angered her for some reason.

Finally, everyone got onto their brooms and Holly flew up into the air, cool air brushing over her skin and through her hair. Once again, she felt as if she left all worries on the grounds beneath her and started to calm down and enjoy the sensation of liberty that always filled her when flying.

While the rest of the team flew underneath her, passing the Quaffle, trying to get it through Ron's goalposts, she went higher and higher, circling the pitch in search for the Golden Snitch. When she spotted it, she dropped down with her broom, chasing it, spiralling past her teammates and finally felt its cold metal surface enclosed between her fingers. She gave it a kiss and let it go again, closing her eyes while it had a chance to escape before she started her hunt again.

Every so often she would pause in the air and watch her team play, watch Ron fighting off one Quaffle after the other. He really was a good Keeper. Holly could tell Katie, Alicia and Angelina didn't spare him and did their best to score.

At one such time, she nearly got hit by a Bludger. In the last second, she rolled over and just out of its way. George flew past her, nearly knocking her from the broom himself and gave the Bludger a well-aimed hit, sending it off into the opposite direction. Holly wanted to thank him, but he had already moved on, chasing after the bewitched ball.

When it slowly turned dark around them, Angelina stopped the training, apparently pleased with her team. Ron had defended his goals so well, Angelina, Katie and Alicia had only managed to score 6 times, altogether. Holy caught the Snitch more than 10 times (she had lost count after 11) and no one had been hit by Bludgers thanks to Fred and George's commitment.

Holly's feet were wobbly again after spending hours flying and quickly went to the bathroom to take a hot shower, trying not to think about what had happened the week before while everyone had been showering.  
She took her time under the hot water, letting it wash away her thoughts, releasing her sore muscles from all tension. Actually, she had spent so much time under the streaming water, she was the last one left in the bathroom.  
After she'd dried herself and slipped into fresh clothes, she went back into the changing room, only to discover she was the last one left of them all. She didn't think about it much, only went over to her usual spot on the benches where her dirty robes lay. She stuffed them into the laundry bag in the corner when something stung into one of her fingers. Slowly, she got out the robes again and gave them a shake. Out of the scarlet folds flew a small branch. Not any branch, it was a branch of holly.

Holly was taken by surprise and curiously bent down to pick up the branch of ever-green, spiky leaves and red berries that shared her name. The moment her finger touched one of the firm, juicy berries, it plopped and revealed a hidden message:

" _Midnight by the Willow Tree."_

Holly hurried to have some dinner and went to bed early, even though she found no sleep. What could that message mean? And who had left it for her to find? Could it have been… But no, surely not?  
Holly tried not to get her hopes up after all the disappointment she had felt today when George ignored her.  
Why the fuck did she even care? She probably shouldn't act on the message at all. If someone wanted to speak to her, why wouldn't they simply do it at day?

Midnight came closer and she decided not to leave her bed. She only got out to her window a few minutes before midnight to watch the big willow down by the lake.  
The view outside stirred her, all about it reminded her of something, but she couldn't say of what.  
The silvery moon up against the dark night sky. The Great Lake smooth as glass, reflecting the billions of twinkling stars above. The willow's long branches moving faintly in the night's breeze.  
And then, there was a light, just next to it. Holly squished her eyes, trying to make out where the light came from.

Yes, all of it felt weirdly familiar, as if she had seen it all before, put she couldn't put her finger on it.  
Holly felt unable to go back to bed, this mysterious light seemed to call for her. She turned around and pulled her favourite Weasley jumper over her head, the emerald green one Mrs. Weasley had given her for her birthday. Apart from that, she slipped into a pair of dark jeans and put on sneakers before she left the dorm, her wand in hand.  
After all, it could still be a Slytherin's prank, she thought, even though she knew deep down that there was nothing to be afraid about. No harm was waiting for her.

Holly went through the corridors and left through the front door, which happened to be unlocked this evening. She strolled quickly in the direction of her favourite place at Hogwarts: the willow by the lake.  
Whoever had left her this message, they knew her well.

The closer she got, the stronger the light's call seemed to get. When she finally was near enough to make out what it was, it disappeared into thin air, leaving her alone in the darkness. For whatever reason, she had expected that to happen and stood still while her eyes adjusted to the dark night. There was no fear within her.

Holly felt his presence before she could see him. The air around her filled with electricity and comfortable shivers ran down her spine as she closed her eyes, waiting for him to come closer.  
Suddenly, she felt his hands gently at her shoulders, his fingers tracing patterns down the sides of her arms. Heat steadily built up in her body, her skin tingling, longing for his touch, her fingers itching with the desire to touch him, the way they did last week…

He put his arms around her, wrapping her within his strong embrace and she leaned back into him, completely at ease as her body brushed against his.

"Holly", she heard him whisper in a husky tone and goose bumps spread across her skin at the sound of him saying her name in that tone.

She couldn't hold back any longer, she had tried for _weeks_ now to stay away from him, to deny her feelings towards him, the way her body demanded his touch on her skin. She couldn't wait no more, not now.

Holly turned in his arms, for a moment thinking all around her would disappear, but it didn't. This was real.

And then, she saw him, his face above hers waiting for her, his beautiful eyes sparkling at her just the way they had last week.  
A crooked smile on his lips, just for her.

His hands had travelled down her sides while she turned around, leaving this tingling fire on every inch they touched and rested now at her waist. Her stomach flipped at this contact.  
Her fingers couldn't be held back either and she raised them between them, gliding up his torso and smoothened the fabric of his jumper over his broad chest.  
She could feel his heart beat fast beneath her touch and felt the urge to come even closer, putting her body against his.  
Holly stepped a little closer, her belly nearly touching his now, their faces just a few inches apart.  
This time, no one would interrupt them.  
This time, Holly knew, it was going to happen.

The night was too dark for her to see any of his freckles, but she would'n have eyes for them anyway right now. All she saw were _his_ eyes, the dark, widened pupils, his desire so visible to her now.

One of his hands tenderly cupped her cheek again, the way it had last week, while the other rested at her waist this time. His face came slowly closer and closer.  
Her heartbeat quickened, growing ever faster and she felt his hot breath brushing against the tip of her nose now. It came in gasps just like hers. Holly bit her lip again.  
Her body burned with desire, the electricity between them tensing her up, she couldn't take this slow torture anymore, she needed to feel his body against hers… his lips on hers… and she needed it now!

Their mouths were only an inch apart at that moment and Holly pushed herself up onto her tiptoes and finally closed the small space between them.

When their lips collided, it felt as if a firework exploded in her body, the heat grew even stronger and she pushed herself against him now, every part of her body pressed against his and without knowing what she was doing she reached up into George's wavy hair and grabbed it gently, pulling him even closer against her while she opened her lips, a soft sigh escaping them, inviting him to deepen the kiss. He grabbed her at the back of her neck as their tongues came together.

His hands moved over her body, touching every bit of her they could until they finally reached down and cupped her ass, holding her as close as possible to his body with those strong arms.

Holly felt so fragile under his touch, she could feel his want for her and felt treasured and safe at the same time.  
She couldn't imagine anything would ever feel better than this moment.

* * *

...finally!  
I hope you like this one;)  
The next few chapters might take a little longer to get done since I'm not sick anymore and will go back to work on Monday, but don't worry, they will come!  
I really enjoy the writing of this and also love to share it with you guys!  
Stay tuned,  
\- A


	18. Honesty and Happiness

**Chapter 18** **Honesty and Happiness**

After some minutes which felt like an eternity to Holly, their lips parted, and she landed back down at her heels after being on tiptoes the whole time.  
She slowly looked up at George's face through her lashes and smiled at him.

He grinned down at her and moved in again, kissing her once more, starting a little gentler this time, less passionate.  
Holly liked that as well, but she couldn't seem to hold back her longing right now, so she deepened the kiss again, pushing her up against him once more, her fingers immediately back in his hair.

 _Merlin, it felt so right!_  
She couldn't believe it.

Her whole body tingled, the fire still burning inside her, and she was so glad when his hands slid underneath her jumper and up her bare back. A gasp escaped her lips when his hands touched her soft skin, traced her naked waist, fuelled the burning sensation inside her some more.

Holly wanted to touch his skin just the same and her hands moved down the front of his jumper and then underneath it. His skin seemed to react to her touch, making her fingertips tingle while she felt up his torso, the skin so incredibly smooth on top of the solid muscles at his stomach and chest

It was George's turn now to moan and he couldn't help it, he had to touch her some more. Even though it wasn't what one would call a warm night, he had to feel her on his bare _skin_ , the way it would have been last week...

He let go of her for a moment, yet without breaking the kiss, and reached up to the collar of his jumper to pull it over his head, pausing right there. George was afraid that he would scare her off by stripping half-naked in front of her, but as soon as she realized what he was doing, she helped him pulling the garment over his head.

Their lips broke apart for a second as the jumper left his body. Holly stepped back, and took in the sight of him, her eyes wandered hungrily over his naked torso. She had seen him like that before, not only last week but also several times during the past years of playing Quidditch at each other' sides and also at the burrow the Weasley boys would often run around shirtless at summer.  
But now… It was different. Back then she had never noticed just how beautifully built he was, tall, yet not as tall as Ron or as lanky, but with broader shoulders. His chest and arms were strong from swinging the bat as a Beater. His skin was pale, like hers, and looked ever so magical in the moonlight.

Unintentionally she had come closer again and her hands moved back to his skin, gliding over his torso, tracing the shape of those hard muscles, drawing invisible lines and patterns onto his skin, making shivers run down his complete body.  
He had closed his eyes at her touch and sighed now, not able to keep his hands off her.

One hand moved up to her face and tucked her hair behind her ear. He let it linger for a second before he let his fingers follow the line of her jaw, pausing at the chin and slightly lifting it up so he could take in the whole beauty of her face.  
George bent down to her and kissed the tip of her nose. Then her forehead, tiny kissed along her temples, cheekbones and jaw until their lips found each other's again.

Holly felt so incredibly valuable under his touch, her body started feeling wobbly, as if she was slowly dissolving in his hands. She put her arms around his hips and gently placed them at the top of his buttocks while he held her at her hips as well, drawing her closer against him. His wonderful scent filled her nose and made her head spin. She couldn't believe the way his lips felt against hers, never would she have expected something as powerful as this sensation…

She pressed the length of her slim figure against him and his hands finally went back to her ass and he grabbed it, lifting her off the ground easily.

"Damnit, Holly" she heard him sigh again as she wrapped her legs around his waist, locking him in between their embrace. She liked the way he reacted to her doings and wanted to hear this husky voice of his again.

George turned around, so Holly could lean against the trunk of the willow and let his mouth wander over her skin once more, this time down to her neck and he heard her grasp as he kissed the delicate skin just where her neck hit her shoulder. He began to cover the whole of her neck in sloppy kisses and revelled in the reactions he would get from her while doing so, the way she would inhale sharply when he sucked at her skin ever so slightly or faint moans would leave her lips when he nibbled at her shoulder…  
He could happily spend the rest of his life doing exactly this: kissing all of her body, exploring her different reactions and drawing all those amazing sounds from her.

Damn, the way she felt in his arms, the way she moved while he kissed her, her legs wrapped tightly around him… It took all his strength not to explode right away.  
He wondered if she felt his erection against her and how she would feel about it. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable.  
Yet, if she felt his dick, she didn't let anything on about it, or at least she didn't seem to be uncomfortable right now, rather the opposite.

Holly's hips curled involuntarily every now and then when George happened upon a particular sensitive spot on her skin and she felt something brush against her inner thigh, something quite big and hard to tell the truth.  
She had often imagined that to happen, especially whenever she touched herself, but now to feel it, to know it was because of her…  
It made her feel so powerful and desirable, she could never have imagined to feel like this.

Holly's hips moved more and more, and George grit his teeth, trying to hold back.  
Then, it became too hard [ _no pun intended xD_ ] and he softly dropped Holly back to her feet while he backed away a few steps.  
She looked at him, irritated at the sudden change in his behaviour and he came back nearer, not wanting to hurt her but neither wanting to fucking come into his jeans.

He sat down on the grass, breathing heavily and patted the space next to him, for her to join him. Slowly, she pulled away from the willow's trunk and sat down next to him, facing him.

"George… did I… Did I do something wrong?"

Her big eyes were even rounder now that she looked at him. Her lips were pink and slightly swollen from his kisses and her cheeks were equally flushed. He wondered what he looked like right now, then shook his head.

"Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong, just about the opposite actually. I… need some moments to calm down a little, you see?"

His eyes twinkled, and he gave her one of those lop-sided smiles, but not even someone like him could stay all cool at those words and he felt heat creep up his cheeks.

Holly listened carefully while George blushed ever so perfectly and slowly understood what he had just said. She blushed herself now, and looked away, but not without glancing onto George's crotch for a moment. It was clearly dented.

George moved up closer to her and cleared his throat.

"By the way, I'm glad you came down here tonight."

He looked at her at those words, all earnest again.

"Yeah, me too", Holly answered shyly after letting some moments pass by.

Now that they had stopped making out, it was kind of embarrassing to talk with George, like they usually would. Holly wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Well, you didn't really leave me a choice, did you? This message in in those berries of the holly branch… That was really some extraordinary bit of magic, I simply had to know who was responsible for that", she smiled to herself, then continued more serious "And also, I…"

Holly bit her lip, unsure of how to say what she was thinking. _If_ she should say that at all.

George leant her way and smiled encouragingly.

"George, can I be completely honest with you?"

She looked at him, deliberating if it was wise to be so open with anyone.  
As if George knew what she was thinking, he moved closer once more, and now sat right by her side. He took her hand.

"Holly, I want you to always be honest with me. And before you go on with what you were about to say, please listen for a second:  
I know there are things you might not want to talk about with me yet or might not be able to share with anyone at all. But whenever you want to tell me about something, I want it to be the truth. I want us both to be ourselves with each other… to be nothing but our truest selves."

He put her hand to his mouth at these words.

"And I understand, that it isn't easy for you to open up to anyone. And yet I want nothing more than for you to lean back against me, to dump all the things that stress you or pull you down onto me and let me be here for you.  
And whenever you do feel like talking or need someone to listen to you, I want to be the person you think about first.  
I want to be the person, that you feel most comfortable with. I want you to trust me, Holly, the way I trust you."

George still held her hand to his face, but he wasn't looking into her eyes but down to his knees. Holly felt really overwhelmed by this little speech of his and had to swallow a few times, before she spoke again.

"Thanks, George."

She now put a kiss onto the knuckles of his hand, just like he had done to her before. Then it was her turn to speak:

"I… want you to know, that you are that person to me already. I don't know how it happened, but ever since that night at headquarters, I feel this connection between us… Whenever I feel the need to talk or want to lean back, it's always you who pops up in my head first. That was really scary at first. Normally I don't feel like this about anyone, not even Ron or Hermione. I'd always rather go through things by my own, but lately… I seem to prefer your company to my own… I don't know."

Holly shook her head, feeling so stupid to be saying those things, to let them out after they had been trapped insider her head for all this time now.  
When she dared to glance at George again, he was looking past her, at the Great Lake, but he nodded ever so slightly, a content expression visibly on his face.

"Don't be embarrassed, Holly, I want to hear this sort of things, you know?"

He grinned at her cheekily and she turned away her face. Even if he said she shouldn't be ashamed, it felt weird to talk to him like that. To be so… exposed.

"Holly, I feel it too. This connection. I thought I was going mad when I first noticed it, but I'm not and it really is there. And… I really like it, actually", George bit his lip gently "I like this electricity I can feel whenever I'm near you. And the way you make my skin tingle. The way you smile at me or stare at me with those beautiful, sparkling green eyes. I like this… longing for you as well. It makes me feel alive."

Holly watched him while he spoke. She saw that it wasn't easy for him to talk about this sort of things either and this circumstance eased her. If talking like that wasn't exactly simple for someone like George, she didn't have to feel too bad about being embarrassed by every word that left her lips. And if he still could be so blunt with her, she could at least try to do the same. Holly worked up all the courage she had and finally spoke from the bottom of her heart.

"I… tried to keep away from you ever since that night. I really wanted this… whatever it is to stop. And of course, you noticed the change in my behaviour, even back at headquarters. Then when you told me that you appreciate my trust and that I needn't be embarrassed around you, I felt like you really cared about me and I didn't know what to think about that possibility. Especially since I never thought you would like me … _this_ way, you know?  
And then of course, last week… I was so angry with myself for almost giving in to those stupid feelings and yet again couldn't stop thinking about it, wondering what it would have been like. You _might_ have noticed me trying to avoid you, ignore you and failing at it entirely… I really had to talk to you, I guess. It couldn't go on like this last week. It can't go this way.  
When you ignored me at Quidditch practice today I felt so… _disappointed_ …"

Holly looked down through her lashes, she couldn't see his face while being so vulnerable, so exposed.

Suddenly, George's hand lifted her chin and she was forced to look into his stunning eyes.

"I didn't ignore you, not in the way you think I did anyway. I just couldn't stand being that close to you while you were avoiding me. The last week was fucking hell for me, Holly. I wasn't sure how to act towards you after we nearly kissed on Saturday and then you did everything you could to stay away, not even look at me. I thought you regretted it nearly happened. I thought you didn't want me the way I want… you."

He looked her straight into her eyes while he spoke, his breath hot against her cheek.  
They were so close again, Holly could make out every single lash of his eyes, every tiny spot of green in this bright blue. Her heartbeat sped up once again and she felt her body instantly tensing, craving his touch once more.  
Just when he had finished his last word, she put her lips onto his for a kiss. George immediately responded and put his hands back to her waist, touching her body once more as she was touching his.

After some time, they laid back onto the grass, their bodies still snugged together into a tight embrace and watched the night sky above them. George summoned two large blankets for them, one to lay upon and the other to wrap around them to stay warm in the night's chill.

Holly put her head on top of George's chest, locked into place by his strong arms.  
Never, had she felt this safe. Never, had she been this happy.

* * *

I will try to update at least every other day, but can't promise anything since daily life will have me back by the morning -.-  
Stay tuned,  
\- A


	19. Hungry for More

**Chapter 19** **Hungry for More**

The next morning, Holly woke up with a huge smile on her face.  
The two had spent several hours together outside by the lake, cuddling, kissing and just being with one another and enjoying every single moment of their shared time. They hadn't talked much anymore, but everything important had been said anyway, and Holly had really relished the silence as well as the safety she felt in George's company. It was, as if all her worries were gone as long as he held her in his strong arms, they shrank and disappeared into nothingness the moment she felt his touch against her skin. With George, there were no sorrows, no distress, no trace of that everlasting sense of guilt she usually felt. With him, her restless mind was finally able to shut down. Holly had felt so carefree, so weightless in his arms, she had eventually been able to let all her guards down and simply be herself, an ordinary 15-year old girl, without all the walls that usually separated her from all people, even her friends.

When the dark night sky began to lighten from black to a deep shade of blue, they had decided to go back to the castle to get at least a couple of hours of sleep. They walked side by side over the damp grass of Hogwarts' grounds, their fingers still entwined with each other's, both a smile on their faces.  
When they reached the top of the stairs and turned into the corridor of the Fat Lady, George suddenly stopped and whirled Holly around, so they faced each other. For some moments, they only looked into the other's eyes and then he bent down to kiss her a last time before returning to their beds. It was a soft kiss, all sweet and gentle without any of the rough passion their kisses had featured before.

After their mouths parted, Holly bit her lip. There was one more thing they needed to talk about and she didn't know where to start. But once again, George seemed to know what was going on in her head and somehow found the exact words, Holly felt herself unable to say.

"Holly… If you want this" George waved his hand between the two of them "to stay just between ourselves, I understand, completely. I don't want anyone to know right now either… It feels just right to me, to have you a little for my own at the moment, to keep this… a secret. For now?"

Holly looked at this handsome face of his, relieved that he felt just the same as her about this situation. She nodded once and smiled thankfully.

"Thanks, George. It's not that I… feel ashamed about it or anything, but I would rather keep this private right now. I'm glad you understand."

The left corner of his mouth twitched, and his lips curled into this lop-sided smile Holly loved. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes and placed a small kiss onto this smile, then turned around and hurried up to her dorm.

Now, after only a little over two hours of sleep, Holly lay in her four-poster bed and couldn't stop smiling. None of the other girls in her dorm were awake yet, since it was still really early, and they usually slept in on the week-ends, so she was all alone with her thoughts for now.

All the happenings of last night repeated themselves in her head and she found herself longing to see George as soon as possible again. She wanted to feel all those sensations once more, just be her true self with him, like she had been some hours ago.

She found herself wondering what he was doing at the moment, if he lay awake like her or if he was still asleep. Would he dream about her?  
Holly still had troubles to get herself to believe last night had actually happened. After all those weeks of waiting, longing, trying to come to senses, to avoid him, she had _finally_ kissed him. She still felt the touch of his lips against hers, the taste of his hot tongue, his sweet breath mingling with hers…

Holly thought how she had pushed herself against his body, touching his muscular torso, his hands on her bare skin beneath that green jumper. She had pressed against him as close as possible, leaving no space between their bodies but it hadn't felt close enough for a second. Damn, she had wanted him so badly. She still wanted him. All of him.  
Her body tingled at those thoughts… The way he had lifted her, so effortlessly… And she had wrapped him between her legs, tightly, to eliminate every tiny bit of space between their bodies. Merlin, the way he had kissed her neck…  
A shiver ran over her body at the memory of all those sensations.  
And then she had felt _him_ , hard against her thigh. Of course, she had been surprised, a little overwhelmed by the situation, but it only made her want him more, him to come even closer so she could feel all of him and have all of him just for herself.

Heat built up in her body as she lay there, recalling all the details of last night, and she felt a well-known feeling in her lower areas, this slow burning sensation and a longing to find release.  
Without thinking about it, her hand slid down her flat belly, cool fingertips over smooth skin, diving between her thighs to the already throbbing knob. It nearly exploded right away at the first touch, which was no surprise to her. Holly had been aroused since their first kiss after all. Actually, even before that.  
All the desire she had felt over those past days had swollen inside her, not be released until now. And then of course, the events of last night had been the height of her swelling lust, leaving her craving for satisfaction.

Her fingers moved gently over the hard bundle of nerves between her pink folds and she closed her eyes, letting this sensation fill up her body. Slowly, she increased the speed and then dipped one slender finger into her dripping wet opening. Her hips curled with the movement of her finger and she had to grit her teeth not to let any moan escape her mouth. Even if the other girls in the dorm were soundly asleep, she wouldn't want to risk waking them.

George's face came to her mind, a crooked smile on his lips and the heat inside her grew stronger. She imagined his touch on her body, her hands to be his, one grabbing a boob, rubbing the nipple until it was hard, the other down at her centre, fingers entering her again and again until she came…  
Her head rolled back against her pillow as her back arched in lust. He would kiss her neck the way he had last night, starting at her jaw, always moving lower, over her throat and collarbone down to her breast. Holly imagined George licking around her nipple, encircling it with his tongue before taking it gently between his teeth and sucking on it.

Her whole body was on fire, any moment now she wouldn't be able to hold back any more. Tension had built up inside her and was ready to explode.  
Holly rolled over onto her stomach, her nipples brushing against the soft fabric of her bed sheet, two fingers still moving in and out her tight, silky sleeve.  
She remembered the way his dick had felt against her thigh and wondered what it would be like to feel _him_ inside her. Shivers ran down her body at that thought. He had been so fucking hard, and so _big_ … She had never had anything like it inside her, two fingers at most, since she was so incredibly tight…

Slowly, a third finger squeezed itself into her wetness, stretching her velvety walls until they fit snugly around her fingers. It hurt a little, but at the same time she had never felt so completely filled. Together, the fingers moved inside her, in and out, curling a little, to find the right spot.  
Damn, what would she give for her fingers to be his, for him to pleasure her like that. What would she give to be able to pleasure him as well, to see his hard cock, touch him, taste him and then feel him pushing into her tightness, filling her ever so perfectly while moving in and out and in again, at last leaving no space between them…

Holly's body finally exploded at those fantasies and she bit into her pillow, not to cry out in pleasure while waves of delight rolled over her trembling body as she came.

As the tide of lust fell again, she lay there, worn out, yet satisfied, a content smile on her lips.

"George", she whispered softly, before drifting off to sleep again.

* * *

Holly woke at the sound of the shutting door, as one of the other girls left the dorm to go down to breakfast. She still lay on her stomach and rolled over, stretching all of her body before sitting up. Her bare feet touched the cool wooden floor and her toes curled at the feeling, but she stood up, wrapped herself into her dressing gown and grabbed the pair of jeans and jumper she had worn at night, as well as fresh panties, socks and her toilet bag. Then, she left the room where most of her dorm mates were still asleep and went to the girl's bathroom to take a shower.  
Of course, she could have gone to the prefect's bathroom, but right now she didn't feel like walking all the way through the castle just to take a bath. Actually, she preferred a shower in the mornings, whereas in the evenings she would rather bathe.

The Gryffindor girl's bathroom was a big gold-beige tiled room with several shower cubicles. None of them were taken at the moment, so Holly chose one on the far end, hung her clothes at the provided hooks on the inside of the door and shut it. She stripped off her dressing gown and her pyjama and then turned on the shower.

The hot water streamed down her slim figure, relieving her tensed muscles. Holly loved the way water always made her feel so relaxed. She scrubbed her body with one of Mrs. Weasleys handmade soaps and washed her hair with her favourite orange scented shampoo. She even used some conditioner on it, which she rarely did. Usually, she couldn't be bothered with things like that, but today she felt like it.

Afterwards, Holly rubbed herself dry with one of those soft Gryffindor towels and slipped into her clothes. Then, she left the shower cubicle and went to the sinks to brush her teeth. She also used a drying charm for her hair until it was only a little damp.

Holly looked at herself in the mirror. She would have expected to look differently, after the events of last night, but apart from her slightly swollen lips and sparkling eyes, she looked just the same. She had been afraid, George might have left marks on her neck, but there were only light pink shadows if one looked closely. And if one knew where to look.

She sighed, grabbed her stuff and brought everything up into her room.  
Hermione was awake now and already dressed. While putting on her shoes, she looked up and greeted Holly.

"Good morning, you were already taking a shower?"

Holly nodded and put her things into her drawers.

"Yeah, kind of felt like it, don't know." She shrugged her shoulders.  
"Are you hungry? I'd like to go down to breakfast straight away."

"Sure. Shall we look if Ron's awake yet? He is surely hungry as well."

The girls took their wands and left the room. Then, they went up the second stairwell to the boy's dorms. Stopping in front of Ron's dorm, they knocked and opened the door. Three beds were already abandoned, but Ron's, of course, was not. The red curtains of his bed were shut closed and Holly could hear him snore softly. She shared a glance with Hermione and nearly broke out into laughter.

Without losing a word, the two went over to Ron's bed. They had done this hundreds of times over the years.

"One" Hermione said, and they took their positions on either side of his bed.

"Two" Holly continued, and they grabbed the curtains.

"Three."

They pushed open the curtains on both sides simultaneously and jumped into Ron's bed.

The mattress bounced underneath them, and Ron jumped up at once, startled at the sudden disturbance of his beauty sleep. In the blink of a second, he knew of course, what was going on and pushed both giggling girls off his bed.

"Damn, not even one night of sleep I'm grated… You two really are the worst friends."

He rubbed his eyes and even though he spoke in an earnest tone, he had to smile.

Holly got up to her feet and sat down next to her best mate.

"Come on, Ron, we're the best and you know it! Without us, you would never make it to any of the meals and we all know how desperately you need your food."

She winked at him and ruffled his hair. It felt incredibly similar to George's…

Ron chuckled and nodded: "You're right, I guess. Food equals energy, you know? But now out with both of you, I need to get dressed."

Holly and Hermione waited until he stood up from his bed (otherwise he would surely go back to sleep the moment they were out the door) and then stepped outside onto the staircase. Hermione went back to their dorm to get a book she had wanted to return to the library and Holly waited in the common room next to a window for both of them to join her. The common room was completely deserted apart from her, since all Gryffindors were either still in bed, in the bathrooms or already down in the Great Hall.  
Her stomach was growling, she really needed something to eat. Also, maybe George would be downstairs as well… Would it be weird, seeing him after last night? They had decided to keep their…whatever it was…a secret, but maybe they wouldn't be able to hide it? Merlin, what if _Ron_ noticed something?

Holly hadn't thought about her best friend at all until now. Surely, he wouldn't be too happy about his best friend and brother being… a thing? Not that he could forbid either of them to have those feelings (or act on them) but still... She didn't want him to be disappointed or angry or whatever. He _really_ mustn't know.  
Holly bit her lip while staring out the window. She could see the willow at the Great Lake and remembered being pushed against its bark by George last night, him between her thighs… she sighed and closed her eyes. Her stomach growled again. loudly.

Suddenly, something brushed against her back and someone's hot breath tingled her ear.

"Hungry?", George's husky voice gave her goose bumps and a tiny shiver ran down her spine.

She slowly turned around and grinned cheekily at him.

"More than you can imagine."

George must have come from the showers, his hair was still dark from the water and from time to time wet drops dripped down to his shoulders.  
He was so close, she could nearly feel him against her body, but she didn't move to touch him, even though her fingers, her whole body tingled with longing once again. The risk of being discovered was simply too high.

He looked down at her, lop-sided grin and everything, then raised a hand to tuck her soft hair behind her ear, before turning around and walking up the stairs to his dorm.

Holly had only a second to calm down before Ron came running down the same stairs and grabbing her around her shoulders.

"Let's get some breakfast before nothing's left!"

* * *

 **Hello again!  
** Sorry it's been so long since my last upload, but my job was really stressful before Christmas, and now over the holidays I spent time with my family, so I had no time to write at all...  
BUT here is the next chapter! I will post a couple of new chapters during the next week or so, I promise! ;)  
Hope you enjoy my story so far! Stay tuned,  
-A


	20. Of Secrets and Success

**Chapter 20** **Of Secrets and Success**

The next few days Holly couldn't stop thinking about George. They both tried their best to keep going as usual, not to let anyone know of their little secret and it seemed as if no one noticed a thing.  
Of course, it was easier since he was two years above her and they had no shared classes, so they would only see one another in the Great Hall for the meals, in their common room and every now and then somewhere between classes in crowded corridors of the castle.

Whenever that was the case, the twins stopped for a second at the trio as they normally would, greeting them, asking about their days so far or mostly joking about one thing or the other. Nobody noticed, how George would secretly pat Holly's hip while the others talked, or how his fingers would brush against hers while passing by.

On one hand, Holly really enjoyed those little moments during the day, seeing George made her heart throb with excitement and her skin tingle with longing. On the other hand, seeing him also mixed her all up, and she found herself unable to think about anything other than him, sometimes she even asked herself during classes if she would see him in the corridor later.  
The outstanding participation she had shown in class during her first weeks quickly disappeared and she had trouble concentrating on the easiest tasks. Hermione often had to poke her when a Professor had been talking to her, asking her a question and she wouldn't notice. Even Ron seemed irritated by her sudden lack of interest and attention in Potions class and without her help he promptly messed up the next potion they were brewing, causing a little explosion in Snape's classroom and getting two evening's detention scrubbing cauldrons without magic for "endangering fellow pupils by pure, reckless stupidity".

Holly knew, if she wouldn't soon come back to her senses, at least her best friends would eventually become suspicious of her behaviour. Something she couldn't let happen under any circumstances. Especially Ron mustn't find out anytime soon, at least not as long as she didn't even know what this was between her and his elder brother.  
Besides, Holly was really anxious about her best mate's reaction to this new… development.

The person hardest to keep her secret from was naturally Dumbledore. The old headmaster seemed to always know about everything going on in his school, most of the time before anyone else sensed anything. During Defence Against the Dark Arts Holly often felt her Professor glancing observantly in her direction, piercing her with those knowing bright blue eyes of his.

Holly wasn't sure if she could hide something so important from this omniscient man, but she tried her best during his classes to keep her concentration on the current topic. At least, Defence Against the Dark Arts was her favourite subject and she found it easiest during those hours to stay focused and participate in any of the given tasks.

But then again, there were her private lessons of Occlumency with Dumbledore, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to keep George out of her mind during their training. Their next appointment was scheduled for Tuesday evening and she felt all wobbly and nervous while strolling down the corridor to the Headmaster's Office.  
After all, she hadn't made any grand progress at closing her mind yet, and usually ended up exposing all different memories and thoughts to her headmaster, embarrassing or not. She _really_ didn't want George to pop up in her head just when Dumbledore would succeed in entering her mind.

Holly tried her best to focus on pushing every thought concerning George right to the back of her mind, before knocking on Dumbledore's door. It wasn't simple, since so many memories of hers were somehow linked to him. All Holly could do now was to honestly hope, this once, to be able to close her mind and fend Dumbledore's attacks off, without him finding out about those private sentiments of hers.

Dumbledore asked her in, and after exchanging some words of meaningless chatter their usual training began. The tall, long-bearded man started with the well-known exercises to help Holly clear her mind.  
On his instruction, she did those steps every evening before going to bed, so Holly knew them by heart. She never expected them to work, and at first there was no obvious improvement and she would still wake up at night after one of those very familiar nightmares. But for some days now, she had slept soundly, without terrifying dreams disturbing her night's rest. Maybe she was slowly starting to make some progress after all. Tiny progress, but still.

Then, when she was as ready as she would be, Dumbledore started to attack Holly's mind. Even though she did her best to protect her mind, after only a half a minute he gained entrance to her thoughts and Holly saw flashes of her day

… _laughing with Ron and Hermione… writing a letter to Sirius… murmuring to Hedwig while feeding her some of the Owl Treats... walking through a crowded corridor to her next class…_

Holly knew in which direction her thoughts were travelling and was glad when Professor Dumbledore withdrew before her stupid brain could expose anything of importance.  
It felt weird to have someone intrude the safety of your own brain, especially if it was one's Professor, but for all that Holly was glad it was Dumbledore who taught her in Occlumency and not one of the other teachers. She shuddered at the possibility of someone like Snape having access to her deepest thoughts and secrets.

She sat in her chair, panting for air as always after Dumbledore's attacks and her Headmaster smiled at her sympathetically. He summoned a glass of water in front of her and she took a sip.

"It's getting harder to access your thoughts, Holly. You're starting to hold up your wards, that's good news!"

Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon spectacles and nodded approvingly. Holly forced herself to smile, as she was still exhausted from his last attack.

"Now, tell me, how have you been sleeping lately? Any improvement?"

Holly took one last sip and let the cool water run down her throat before answering.

"Actually, Professor, I can't remember having any nightmares these past few days. I had some relaxing nights without any disturbance as far as I can remember…"

She looked at him hopefully.

"That is a wonderful development, Holly! I knew you would start picking up soon. From now on, you will see, it will be getting easier and easier. I assume, you are still clearing your mind every night before going to bed as I told you?"

Holly bobbed her head affirmatively and he continued.

"Good. That is absolutely essential in our training. There is a booklet I would like you to read as well until our next lesson. It is quite a controversial read, as you will see, but sometimes those muggles aren't too far off…  
Now, let's pursue our training."

Holly braced herself again, pushing George as far away as possible.

"Legilimens."

This time again she was able to fight him off for about 30 seconds before her wards broke and Dumbledore broke into her thoughts:

… _Holly sitting in the library, working on some kind of essay… Hermione rolling her eyes at Ron while he tries to explain one stunning Quidditch move his favourite player had pulled at the game he had gone to during summer… Ron's potion exploding, leaving his face all grey with ashes… Hermione sitting next to the fire in their common room, a purring Crookshanks on her lap as she read a book…_

Dumbledore and Holly tried several more times. After the first five attacks, Holly's brain grew tired and it got harder and harder to focus and keep her professor out. At last, she wasn't able to stand any longer than a second before he delved into her mind.

… _Ron joining her Quidditch team, fending off one Quaffle after the other… the cool metal of the Snitch pressed against her lips as she kissed it before releasing it once more… the tiny branch of Holly stinging one of her fingers before she discovered the message… the light dancing next to the willow tree at the Great Lake…_

 _No_ , she would no let Dumbledore see what was coming next, that was the most private memory in her brain and no one had any right to see this!  
This was her secret and she had to protect it, she had to stop this dragonshit!

Holly couldn't tell what she had done, but the uprising anger in her took over and somehow, Dumbledore got pushed away and thrown out of her thoughts, just in time before George would have turned up in her mind.

Breathing heavily through gritted teeth she opened her eyes and was shocked to see her Professor had fallen to the floor behind his desk. Holly jumped from her chair and hurried around it, horrified to have attacked _Dumbledore_.

Fortunately, he couldn't have been gravely hurt, as he sat up already, only rubbing his back a little and shaking his head unbelievingly. Holly stretched out her hand to help him to his feet, but Dumbledore, surprisingly agile for his age, stood up quickly without her help and sat down in his chair.

He was still shaking his head and frowning for some reason Holly could not understand. After several moments, he pointed at the chair opposite him and Holly sat down again, not daring to meet Dumbledore's eyes and instead looking at her folded hands in her lap, whilst chewing on the inside of her cheek. Surely, she had done something terrible, she had attacked a Professor, the Headmaster at that!

"I… I'm sorry, Sir", she heard herself stammer "I really didn't want to- "

Suddenly, she was interrupted by a loud, echoing burst of laughter. Her head jerked up and she saw the old man in front of her bending over the table with laughter. After some seconds he calmed down again and even swiped away some tears of joy from under his eyes. Holly couldn't believe her eyes. What the actual fuck was going on?

"My… my dear Holly… There is absolutely no need for you to apologize!" he grinned at her, showing all of his teeth.

"There... there is not?  
But Sir, I… I _attacked_ you!"

His head bobbed up and down, still amused.

"That you have, my girl, and not only that, you were able to push me away, push me out of your mind. Out of nowhere! I did _not_ see this coming!"

Dumbledore chuckled and stared at her intensely.

"Holly, dear, that is the first big achievement on your journey of mastering Occlumency. You did it! I don't know how or why you were suddenly able to fend me off like that, but we will have to work on that! Do you happen to remember what caused you to react in that way?"

Holly bit her lip. Of course, she remembered. But the thing responsible for her actions was her strong need to hide those intimate moments she shared with George. She hardly could tell her _headmaster_ ; besides it was supposed to be her secret.  
After thinking about it for a while, she simply nodded once.

"Yeah, I actually do. Yet… it is a rather private matter, Professor Dumbledore. There are memories I wouldn't want anyone to see. And I had to protect them. I… I don't even know what I did, but out of nowhere you were thrown out of my thoughts and lying on the floor…"

Holly bit her lip and looked over to her Professor who was still beaming at her. For a few seconds, none of them said a word. Just when the silence began to grow thick and uncomfortable around them, Dumbledore spoke again:

"Very well. We will keep on working with that. The next time.  
For today we are done with our training. Are you free Thursday, same time?"

"Sure, Professor."

"Alright, Thursday it is therefore. In order that you may prepare yourself: we will try to transfer this strong _sense of protection_ you seem to have for certain memories and thoughts onto other parts of your subconsciousness. Someday soon, we might be able to protect the entirety of your mind with help of this first successful defence you showed today."

Holly didn't understand everything her Headmaster was talking about, but her mind really was tired, she couldn't stand any more explanations right now.

"Anything else, Sir?"

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot! Here, the booklet I was talking about earlier. It's about a muggle technique of training attention and awareness until you achieve a mentally clear and calm state. I thought it might be useful for you to try it at night together with your usual routine of clearing your head?"

From one of the small piles of books on his grand Headmaster's desk, Dumbledore picked up a small pale blue booklet with dark letters forming the words " _Meditation_ _for_ _Beginners_ " across the front cover.  
Holly shrugged her shoulders. Even if it wouldn't help, it couldn't do no harm either, could it?

Grabbing the paper booklet, she stood up.

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. Good night."

"Good night, Holly, see you on Thursday."

* * *

Holly walked over to the door and left. Before shutting it behind her, she looked back at her Headmaster and saw he was still smiling at her, genuinely. She couldn't help but smile back at him.

Slowly she descended the stairs and left the Gargoyle behind her, thinking about today's achievement.  
She had done it, actually done it!  
She had successfully managed to protect her thoughts from the most powerful wizard in the world. Holly felt really proud of herself. Sure, she had only managed to do so this once and only because of those special private memories of hers, but if she could do it once, surely with some training she would be able to master this stupid "Art" of Occlumency. With Dumbledore's help, nothing seemed impossible to her right now.

Actually, now that she thought of it, she had only made this progress because of George. It had been him, after all, she wanted to protect, her memories of being with him, kissing him. And those irrational feelings she felt towards him.

Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't notice someone watching her as she walked through the corridor.  
Suddenly, the silhouette of a man detached itself from the shadows of the dimly lit corridor and Holly's heart skipped a beat as she jumped back a couple of feet and pulled her wand out simultaneously, pointing it at the person in front of her, ready to defend herself.  
 _He_ stood there, both hands held out in front of him in a defensive way.

"Damn it George, you scared me to death!", Holly scolded him, but he only smirked at her.

"Really, you have to stop lurking around, waiting for me in the dark. I might jinx you one day out of fear!" Holly put her fists on her hips and glared at him angrily.

George held back a chuckle and moved closer, gently taking her clenched hands from her hips and into his.

"You are one feisty little witch, Potter."

Holly's startled heart was still pounding in her chest and only just started to calm down a little. Bloody George Fucking Weasley. If he hadn't this fricking effect on her, she really would turn away now and leave him behind. How dare he frighten her like this?  
But then again, she hadn't been this close to him since Saturday, not _alone_ with him. And she'd been yearning for his touch ever since. Seeing him every day and not being able to touch him was torture to her. Now, there he was in front of her, waiting for her in this otherwise completely deserted corridor, as it was already way past curfew and most of the pupils played by the rules it seemed.

She couldn't help but step closer as he pulled her into his strong embrace. He held her tightly between his arms and Holly rested her heavy head against his comfortable chest. Feeling him made all the tension in her body fall away and she felt herself melting into him, relaxing as they stood there, the rhythm of his heart throbbing beneath her ear while she inhaled his incredible, woody, yet clean and cinnamony scent with every breath.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to frighten you. I… I just couldn't stand not seeing you any longer. I _had_ to take this chance, only so I could hold you like this."

His warm breath brushed against the top of her head and her scalp tingled ever so slightly. She was still a little mad at him, but she couldn't fight against the stupid feeling that spread through her body. Slowly, she lifted her arms and locked them around his neck while his hands moved down her back until they rested lightly at her bottom. He squeezed it a bit and she sighed against his chest.

"Holly?"

She moved her head, so she could look into his twinkling eyes.

"Hm?"

George bend down until their noses touched and stopped for a moment. Holly felt her heart beat quicken again, but this time not out of shock. His hot breath danced over her sensitive skin and she felt herself instinctively moving closer, pushing the length of her body against his.

When their lips met, heat spread through her body at once, steadily burning up her insides, leaving her all wobbly. They only broke apart to catch their breath after some minutes of making out and Holly heard him chortle softly as she stepped back a little.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, really. It's just… You should have seen your face earlier."

At those words he roared out with laughter.  
Holly arched her eyebrows and pressed her lips together.

"You are a real pain in the ass, George Weasley."

She turned on her heels and started to walk away from him, up to the stairs.  
After just a moment he was right behind her, catching her around her waist and pushing her against a cool wall, keeping her in place with his body.

"Always at your service, Madam", he said cheekily before putting his smooth lips back onto hers. Holly rolled her eyes once before returning the kiss smilingly.

* * *

So, dear friends, that is it for this year, next update will be on _New Year's Day_! (Yay, 2019 ftw)

I hope you have a wonderful last day tomorrow/today (depends on where you live, I guess) before starting all freshly into the new year!  
Until then, stay safe and tuned,  
-A


	21. Over the Edge

**Chapter 21** **Over the Edge**

The following few weeks were pure bliss for Holly. George and she met mostly at night, so no one would find out about them and Holly grew more and more comfortable with this arrangement. After some days she started being able to focus in classes again and she picked up her good work and participation where she had left it.  
Ron and Hermione didn't seem to notice she was keeping such important things from them and she even continuously made progress in her Occlumency lessons.

At night, she had no nightmares anymore and Holly actually began enjoying the steps of meditation and clearing her mind at night. It brought her a sense of peace and she felt all in all pleasantly balanced out.

The best thing about her days were the moments spent with George of course. Whenever it was her turn to stroll through the corridors at night on her prefect's duties he would wait somewhere for her to steal a kiss or two. Every now and then he even accompanied her at those tours around the castle, but they had to be extremely careful at those times, not to be spotted by one of the other prefects or any rule breakers that were out and about in the castle after curfew.

Other times they would slip out at night to meet in an abandoned classroom or, if the weather allowed it, outside by the Great Lake to spend some time with one another. Holly couldn't remember being as happy as she was now ever before. She relished every moment spent with George and opened up more and more when she was with him. Never, had she felt so talkative before, but with George discussing their opinions and sharing her most private thoughts felt as easy as breathing.

But other than the talking and simply enjoying his company, Holly was gleeful to discover the sexual tension and electricity between them would not decrease, not even after all those hours of touching and kissing. She had expected the intensity of this sentiment to lessen after a while, but luckily that was not the case.  
Rather the opposite was happening actually, and it got harder and harder to stick to kissing and groping one another, since her body demanded for more.

George would be quite willing to give in to those feelings probably, but Holly really wasn't sure if she was ready for a next step. Especially since her and George were still meeting in secret and hadn't talked about the definition of their… "relationship".

About that Holly felt divided… On one hand she would love to show everybody how she felt about George and wanted to be able to kiss him openly just whenever she liked or cuddle up with him in the common room, taking his hand in front of her friend and all those things other people did. She wanted to scream out for everyone to hear, that she was falling for this wonderful, impossible boy.

But on the other hand, she knew it to be best if no one knew about them. Being so close to her could be unsafe for George, now that Voldemort had returned everyone important to her was in mortal danger. Holly knew, if Voldemort found out about her feelings for George, he would not hesitate to try using him against her and she couldn't let that happen.  
Also, she sort of enjoyed meeting in secret and having George all to herself. It was exciting to sneak out at night, having to hide somewhere to make out, always at risk of being discovered… Or whenever he would pass her in school during the day and secretly touched her without anyone else noticing. Just thinking about it made her stomach totter with excitement.

One night, they met at the astronomy tower just after midnight. The chilly air of October made them snuggle together closer under one of the blankets while they watched the deep night's sky above them. Holly had just told him about her progress with Occlumency and how he had been the changing point in her development. He laughed at that.

"Glad I could be of use with that, Holly. But honestly, take some credit for yourself, it was _you_ who managed to fight off Dumbledore in the first place. And not only this once, regularly since then, don't you?"

George's hand stroke over her hair while speaking. Damn, why did she always feel so fucking safe and sheltered in his arms? She sighed before answering.

"Yeah, but I only ever manage for a short time so far and then my brain is all worn up when he strikes again. I doubt Voldemort would give me some time to recover in between his attacks. There is still so much to learn… I don't know if I will ever be ready…"

Suddenly George sat up and pulled her along with him. He lay the tips of his fingers under her chin and lifted it up, so she would look at him.

"Holly, I've told you before and I will tell over and over again until you believe me: You are an amazing witch, not only stunningly beautiful but also incredibly smart and brave with a lion's heart. Don't you ever doubt yourself again, you can just achieve anything you want to. If there is any person out there, strong enough to be a match for good-old You-Know-Who, it clearly is you, Holly Elizabeth Potter.  
Besides, do you think _I_ would fall for someone as incompetent as you seem to think you are?"

Her heart melted at his words, it always did when he talked to her like that. He had tried to convince her of her being gorgeous and more or less perfect ever since they started spending time together, always finding the right words whenever she was feeling insecure or down. She couldn't be luckier to have him in her life.

"George Fabian Weasley, how is it you always make me feel so special? You really are exceptional, you now?"

He shrugged his shoulders, a mischievous grin curling his lips.

"Don't tell anyone it's a secret… But I'm the best Weasley brother."

She grunted and rolled her eyes disbelievingly, so he started tickling her, pinning her down to the floor with his body. Holly squeaked and wriggled underneath him, trying to free herself whilst laughing uncontrollably and hitting George against his chest to get him off her.

"Stop it! Right. Now. – I. Can't. Breathe!" Holly stammered in between bursts of laughter and gasped for breath. She didn't hear him chuckle, but she could feel the vibrations of it in his chest. His fingers had stopped their tickling movements and slipped around her wrists, holding her in place with his face only an inch away from hers.

"Now, we can't have that!"

His nose traced her jawline and he placed the tiniest kiss right on its edge. Slowly, he let his mouth wander down her neck, covering it with sloppy kisses, nibbling on her skin every now and then. Holly's head rolled back to give him better access to her bare skin and her eyes fluttered close as she leisurely dissolved under his treatment.

She yearned to touch him as well, but her hands were still pinned above her head by his, so all she could do was enjoy the moment and arch her back to press her body against his while opening her thighs slightly for him to take his place between them, instead of on top of them. He sucked at the delicate skin above her collarbone which made her head spin and her stomach flutter comfortably.

"George… please…"

Holly heard him sigh contently at her moaning his name just as she knew he would. He couldn't get enough of her saying his name like that and she wasn't planning on ever stopping to do so.

Finally, he let go of her hands to let his fingers travel over her body, starting down her arms, tracing lines on her bare skin… Shivers ran down her spine, her skin was so sensitive to his caress, his touch nearly tickled. His hands slid down the sides of her torso, until they came to a rest at the hem of her shirt, pausing, waiting for her permission while never stopping scattering her neck and shoulders with kisses.

Before George's hands could slip beneath the fabric, Holly wrapped her right leg around his hips and pushed her hands against his chest with all her might, so they rolled over and she was on top of him now.  
George looked at her, surprise so clearly in his eyes as she straddled him, now pinning him down with her body. Sure, he could easily lift her up since she weighed next to nothing, but why would he? He enjoyed the sudden turn of events enormously and smiled up at her, expectantly for her to pursue whatever she had in mind.

Naturally it wasn't easy for him to keep his shit together with this beautiful witch on top of him, legs spread open wide next to the sides of his pelvis. She was only wearing thin pyjama bottoms and he longed for her to sit down onto him, so he might feel her heat through the fabric against his crotch.

She let her hands wander over his torso, drawing invisible patterns onto his shirt, caressing every inch of his upper body before leaning over him, pinning _his_ hands to the floor this time. She kissed him softly, teased him, not letting him deepen the kiss before placing small kisses down his neck, the way he had done earlier. Her kisses grew sloppier and she began to suck on his skin lightly, letting the very tip of her tongue trail over his skin.

Holly heard his breath quicken and she enjoyed his body's response to her doings tremendously. She took her time, nibbling at his skin until he moaned softly. Smilingly, she left his neck and looked straight into his eyes for her next step.  
All the while she had been on top she'd made sure to keep some space between their bodies, her bum sticking into the air instead of sitting down onto him. Now, she slowly let her hip drop onto his body until her womanly parts rested snugly on top of his already quite tented crotch.

George sucked in his breath and bit onto his lip at the same time as Holly closed her eyes, savouring this new sensation of his hardness rubbing against her sensitive centre. She had been dreaming of this feeling and involuntarily rolled her hips against his. A soft moan escaped her lips and she felt George jerking underneath her. Without her noticing it, George had freed his hands from her clasp and put them now onto her hips, grabbing her rougher than intended as she pushed herself harder against his member again with this rolling motion. Her clit nearly exploded at this new discovered sensation.

"Damn it, Holly, you're gonna kill me." George hissed in a low tone.

Holly's eyes opened and met George's hungry glance, his pupils had grown wide with lust, she couldn't even see any of the marvelous blue of his irises. A shiver ran down her body at this sight and she licked over her lips.

There was one other thing she had wanted to do for some time now, and she gently took George's hands into hers, lifted them up to her face to kiss his knuckles before leading them down to the hem of her shirt, silently pleading him to slide beneath it.  
She saw, his eyes turning even darker and he swallowed audibly before letting his hands glide over the smooth skin of her flat stomach. They seemed to be trembling ever so slightly and Holly's eyes fluttered shut as they traced up her ribcage finally up to her…  
George stopped.

Her eyes flew open, and she saw in his eyes he wasn't sure if he should do what she was permitting him. She sighed and raised her eyebrows.

"What are you waiting for, Georgie, you want this… _I_ want this… please…", she moaned.

Holly let her hips drop once more and he moaned silently, at last cupping her boobs with his big hands. His touch was so gentle, Holly barely felt his fingertips moving over the delicate skin. Steadily, he got braver, applying a little more pressure, circling her tiny hard nipples and pinching them between thumb and forefinger.

Holly moaned, and her head rolled back, her chest heaving with pleasure.

All at once George sat up, closing the space between them and kissed her open mouthed while carrying on squeezing her perky breasts with one hand. His other moved back to her arse, groping her and pushing her closer against his body.

His erection became painfully hard and trapped in his much too tight pants while Holly continuously rubbed her soft, hot, yet unfortunately clad cunt against him.  
Damn, this girl would be his death! How did she even know to move like this, she was a virgin for Merlin's sake!

Holly involuntarily picked up speed, rolling her hips faster and harder against this jaw-dropping hardness of George's cock. Her whole body was filled with the familiar heat and she knew, she was on the blink of orgasm, her clit throbbing, ready to explode.

George could hardly hold back any longer and considered stopping Holly's movements before it would be too late, when he noticed this never-seen expression on her face and suddenly knew what was going to happen. The eagerness to stop her turned into the very opposite. There was _nothing_ that would stop him from giving her this release, to witness her bliss…

Instead, he moved together with her, his hips grinding against hers, while sucking and nibbling at the most sensitive spot on her neck, right below her earlobe.

"Come on, Holly, let it happen…" he whispered against her delicate skin.

She moaned a little at his husky voice.

"Let go, please… for me?"

All of a sudden her back arched in his arms and she started trembling as she leaned into him, kissing him roughly and moaning into his mouth. Her body shook with the force of her climax.

"George…" she sighed hoarsely.

Seeing her like this and hearing his name coming from her mouth whilst coming undone was all it took to take him over the edge with her. He gritted his teeth and let the waves of orgasm roll over his tensed body as well as he burst into his pants.

Afterwards, they lay down next to each other, both a smug smile on their faces. George spooned up against her back and kissed the top of her head as she snuggled into him, her round bum rubbing against his crotch playfully. He heard her giggle.

"You're going to kill me, Potter", he joked, before drifting off to sleep.

Merlin, was he falling hard for this girl.


End file.
